West Ham set mammoth asking price for Chelsea transfer target Declan Rice

West Ham United will be holding out for a monstrous £100m transfer fee from any club looking to buy Declan Rice this summer, amid interest from Chelsea in the England midfielder.

The 22-year-old has regularly been linked with a move away from West Ham, with the Blues and Manchester United seen as potential destinations for him.

Having started every game in England’s run to the final of Euro 2020 the transfer talk has only become louder, with Chelsea now the most interested party in his services.

The Hammers are not going to make an exit easy, though, and with three years still to run on Rice’s contract, they are in a strong position to keep hold of him.

The Athletic report that West Ham value the holding midfielder at £100m and will expect bids in that region to even consider letting him go.

The report suggests that Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is a fan of Rice, but whether the club will sanction a bid of such huge proportions is in serious doubt.

After the climax of the Premier League season, which saw West Ham finish sixth, manager David Moyes made it clear what the club’s position on Rice is.

‘I don’t think [co-owners] David Sullivan, David Gold or myself have got any intention of losing Declan Rice,’ said the Scot.

‘We’ve just qualified for Europe, it’s a brilliant achievement. Declan has been a big part of that and we want him to be a big part of what we do next year as well.’

The Sun reported last week that West Ham will try and tie down Rice to a new and vastly improved contract thanks to the departure of Felipe Anderson, which has freed up substantial space on the wage bill.

With Anderson returning to Lazio and his wages ‘in excess of £100,000-per-week’ off the books, the Hammers will try and invest those funds to persuade Rice to sign a new deal.

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