The more I see of this kid the more I am impressed by him for such a young age - just turned 23 in January. He is contracted to West Ham until June 24 which West Ham have a further year option in his contract.
Come this summer there's going to be plenty of suitors for his signature, however I believe he would only go to a club that can offer him Champions League football and the chance of silverware. At this moment in time you'd have to say that would be Man City, Liverpool or Chelsea because I don't believe he'd want to go abroad with the WC coming in Nov/Dec this year in Qatar.
Man Utd have been linked with him for ages, however I believe this is more papertalk than reality because Ten Hag will not want to put an immediate target on his back by spending that much on one player after the rancid expensive acquisitions Utd have made in the previous unsuccessful years.
Man City you could see him go there, to replace an outgoing Fernandinho. However with Haaland muted to be on his way to City in the summer for an astronomical transfer fee with addons for Raiola his Agent and Alfe Inge Haaland his Dad, City would be effectively pi#sing over FFP whilst they are still under investigation. And question is do they really need him?
Chelsea is the club Rice was at as a kid and with them under a microscope with another potential transfer ban hanging over them, it would seem unlikely.
There's also the likes of Tottenham with Conte, however it'd be totally the opposite to Daniel Levy's norm and would likely be the bulk of their combined transfer spend. Plus there's no guarantee Tottenham will be in next season's CL.
Then we have Newcastle's new found riches, however Newcastle are a few years from challenging for trophies and at least a season or 2 away from CL qualification.
Which brings us on to Liverpool - it's becoming patently obvious Henderson's legs are going, with him being unable to complete 90 mins in most games he starts. Rice would be perfect anywhere in our midfield because he is two footed and is a very dynamic box to box player who is belying his tender age with strong leadership qualities. He would be with us for the longterm in our middle if we did go out and get him. His price tag won't be for the faint of heart, however he almost guarantees us longevity in our middle.
It's likely a few players will be gone from Liverpool in the summer and with no real issues anywhere else in the team it would make sense for us to get Rice this summer as the longterm replacement for Henderson.
Thoughts?
