West Ham midfielder Declan Rice is believed to be interested in joining Manchester United and even asked some of his English colleagues about the club during last month’s international break.
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The central midfield is rising on United’s list of summer transfer priorities and the club has revived previous interest in Rice in recent months. The 22-year-old has been crucial to West Ham’s rise to the Champions League battle and is one of the Premier League’s best DM.
Declan Rice has impressed Man Utd staff this season Pool / Getty Images
90 minutes recently revealed that United are hugely impressed with what they see as Rice’s significant development and development this season. But that admiration also seems to be mutual and the Manchester Evening News now reports that he has talked to existing United players about it.
Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Dean Henderson were all named in the England squad with Rice for last month’s international. Rashford withdrew after just the first game, but it is Rice who spoke specifically to Maguire and Shaw about life at Old Trafford.
The point is that United have previously talked about the popularity of their players – especially Rashford and Lingard – in the England squad and have often made approaches for England players in the past after major international tournaments. Rice will be a start to the delayed Euro 2020.
Rice has asked Harry Maguire & Luke Shaw to play for Man Utd | Sebastian Frej / MB Media / Getty Images
90min understands that there is a chance that West Ham can lower their valuation of rice to 50 million pounds due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the Hammers will postpone the decision if they are willing to sell until the end of the season to see if they make it to the top four.
To play in the Champions League next season, the Hammers would stick to their best players and best financially strengthened by the lucrative income that the competition provides.
It helps from United’s perspective that Old Trafford officials have already been in contact with Hammer’s counterparts in recent months during the future of loaned Jesse Lingard.
Man Utd & West Ham are already in touch due to Jesse Lingard | Pool / Getty Images
A reborn Lingard could be offered in exchange for Rice, while the names of Nemanja Matic and Phil Jones have also been mentioned in talks between the clubs.
United also see an opportunistic strategy for Wolves star Ruben Neves, who could be the perfect partner for Rice in midfield. Wolves want to sell a handful of their top players this summer and accept an offer to Neves that meets their valuation of over 30 million pounds.
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