West Ham United are prepared to offer a significant wage hike for one of the best young centre-backs, Declan Rice. The 19-year-old has been one of those rare surprises for the Hammers in a very torrid season in the top-flight.
Rice spent his early years with Chelsea youth academy but was later signed up by the East London club. He was remarkable for the United U23s last season and lead the team to playoffs of the Premier League 2. This eventually earned him a call-up to the Hammers senior team and the youngster is now thriving against the world’s elite.
His composure and game reading ability are exceptionally good at such a tender age and David Moyes seems to be more than happy to field him in the midst of a relegation battle. Rice has taken part in the United backline in 27 games this season and was allowed to make his international senior team just weeks back against Turkey.
He was born in London but the player chose to represent the Republic of Ireland, being capped 20 times for the youth sides. Some even feared that the English FA would raise questions over the players choice of international football.
Rice is currently on a basic wage deal of £2.5k-per-week till the summer of 2020. It might rise to £20k with the new deal and to £40k after appearance bonuses and further clauses are added. This is an ideal move for Moyes’ side especially with the current climate the club is stuck in.
West Ham managed to move 5 points clear of the relegation scraps after beating Southampton 3-0 last weekend. Moyes’ men thrashed the Saints to overcome their recent troubles in the London Stadium. The previous loss against Burnley turned out ugly very quickly in the second half when fans started to invade the pitch and eventually attacked the Hammers ownership by throwing coins at them.
They are clearly dissatisfied with the way the club is being run and maybe further signings will be able to appease the crowd for the time being. Tying down the services of young talents like Rice while also pursuing big names for the summer will go a long way in stating the club’s future ambitions.
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Moyes has instilled a bit of stability into the team after signing Joao Mario on loan and Jordan Hugill. If he does manage to survive the relegation drop to the Championship and keep his job at the London Stadium, a strong lineup in the 2018/19 season can go a long way in improving this season’s outcome.
