Vital Hammers News

Soul of the London Stadium to be yanked out as sharks circle for key West Ham ace – opinion

|

As the summer transfer window grows nearer and shortlists are drawn up around the world, it seems ever more likely that Mario Husillos and Manuel Pellegrini’s resolve will be put to the test over at least one key Irons ace.

Declan Rice is almost endlessly being linked with a move out of Stratford now, as his form in Claret and Blue continues to impress some of Europe’s leading sides, and a transfer involving the midfielder would surely rip the soul from the London Stadium.

It would hurt even more to see the now England international move on to another Premier League side, where his exploits would be on show to us week in, week out. Alas, the biggest shark understood to be circling is Manchester United, who seemingly hold the most interest in his services.

ESPN are reporting that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continues to harbour a keen awareness of Rice’s talents, and could look to him as part of a complete summer rebuild at Old Trafford, in a window that could see no fewer than five fresh faces thrust into the Red Devils’ starting XI.

United are said to have realised they need to overhaul the current playing squad following their Champions League elimination at the hands of Barcelona, and will look to sign at least one addition for each area of the pitch.

There will also be significant funds on offer for Solskjaer to tackle the market with, so hopefully he offers a lot more than the £40million The Sun have suggested he would propose in the past, if the Norwegian comes knocking.

ESPN add that United are also interested in Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez, as has been reported before, but the La Liga outfit are likely to request a substantial figure for the Spaniard, which could put any interested party off if they have to sign further players.

As we are likely going to be in the market for defenders ourselves in the summer, it is worth noting that ESPN still expect Antonio Valencia to leave Old Trafford when his contract expires in the summer.

However, while he has been linked with us in the past, the Manchester Evening News speculated earlier in April that he could be off to the MLS to reconnect with former teammate Wayne Rooney. His father has also revealed that there have been two contracts put on the table from Major League Soccer outfits for the right-back to consider.

Along with Valencia, ESPN note that there is doubt over the futures of Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.

Share this article