Man Utd target ‘promised’ he can seek summer transfer after turning down £200,000 a week offer

Declan Rice is poised to leave West Ham United this summer amid links to Man Utd and Arsenal
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Declan Rice is set to leave West Ham United this summer club chairman David Sullivan has confirmed.

Arsenal are the favourites to sign the England international but Manchester United have also been linked with a move for the midfielder who has one year remaining on his contract at the London Stadium.

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Rice lifted the Europa Conference League with the Hammers on Wednesday night and Sullivan revealed on Thursday he was promised he could seek a move this summer.

The player turned down a new contract worth £200,000 per week 18 months ago and Sullivan added three to four clubs were interested in a summer move and he is expecting offers to start coming through from Thursday.

“We promised him he could go,” Sullivan told talkSPORT. “He set his heart on going and in due course he has to get on and we have to get a replacement.

“It is not something we wanted to happen. We offered him £200,000 a week 18 months ago and he turned it down. You can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to be there.

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“I think the offers will start to come today. Three or four clubs have shown interest but out of respect to West Ham, while we’re still playing, you don’t make offers for players.”

Rice’s contract does have the option to be extended by 12 months, giving the Hammers a stronger hand in negotiations over a potential transfer fee.

It is believed a deal worth £90m could be enough to sign Rice, with Bayern Munich also linked with the player ahead of the summer.

Sullivan’s revelation came less than 24 hours after Rice had suggested he could remain at the Hammers for another season.

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He told BT Sport after Wednesday’s win over ACF Fiorentina: “It’s not goodbye yet, there’s loads of speculation about my future and there is interest from other clubs, but look, nothing’s happened. I’m a West Ham player, I’ve still got two years left on my contract.

“I love every minute of playing for this club and captaining this club, you can see the smile on my face. It’s not about that tonight, it’s about us celebrating. Let’s wait and see what happens.

“My focus is playing for West Ham at the moment. I’m captain of this club and I can’t speak highly enough of this place. Let’s just see what happens. Let’s wait and see. Who knows?

“I’ve given my heart playing for this club over the past six years. I’d give anything to help this club win. We’ve not had it easy. We’ve been facing relegation. To win this now, to be in that category, I don’t want to say too much. I’ll get too excited.”