Declan Rice

[AlexUTD]

And maybe we can add Sancho as a 70 mil player to that list aswell.

Give the lad a chance..

The whole team stinks,hard to play good when everyone around you wont put a shift in and wont help him play on his strength.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Have you ever seen Rice play?

Yes, his team doesn't even pass the ball out from the back under pressure. When West Ham are under the cosh he isn't exactly looking to get on the ball and when he does. he passes it straight to the person who passed him the ball. No thanks, you can be great in space as a midfielder but that's not exactly what we need.

 

[Maniron]

Yes, his team doesn't even pass the ball out from the back under pressure. When West Ham are under the cosh he isn't exactly looking to get on the ball and when he does. he passes it straight to the person who passed him the ball. No thanks, you can be great in space as a midfielder but that's not exactly what we need.

Admittedly West Ham are not Man Utd and there are different levels of player and team expectations. However, I can’t think of one single player in red that doesn’t divide fans opinions as to their worth to the team. Everything I read and hear about Rice from the West Ham fans, those that watch him, week in and week out is that unanimously he is the real deal.
and is capable of playing a multitude of roles. I think you greatly underestimate him.

 

[Bebestation]

Give the lad a chance..

The whole team stinks,hard to play good when everyone around you wont put a shift in and wont help him play on his strength.

Ofcourse I will. This chance isn't really given to everyone though.

Some players are expected to play like Messi all by themselves when the whole team is shit and not in form.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Admittedly West Ham are not Man Utd and there are different levels of player and team expectations. However, I can’t think of one single player in red that doesn’t divide fans opinions as to their worth to the team. Everything I read and hear about Rice from the West Ham fans, those that watch him, week in and week out is that unanimously he is the real deal.
and is capable of playing a multitude of roles. I think you greatly underestimate him.

Nope, i actually watch the games and understand the differences in demands for players that play for a West Ham and those that play for our club. Our players at the moment are falling well below the level of what we need. He won't help much himself.

 

[croadyman]

His leadership is something we are crying out for in the middle, however still need a Kamara/Zakaria as well

 

[lex talionis]

It's hard to imagine Declan having any interest in joining United any time soon, if there ever was any such interest.

 

[davidmichael]

His leadership is something we are crying out for in the middle, however still need a Kamara/Zakaria as well

If we got Rice, which I pray to god we do, then Kamara or Zakaria would be back up as Rice is a similar yet better player than both of those.

Rice alongside someone like De Jong or Bellingham is the dream for me but Rice alongside Kamara or Zakaria whilst giving us a potentially great defensive foundation but little creatively, I’ve said lots of times on here that I’d happily see us use our summer budget plus sales on just rebuilding the midfield.

 

[croadyman]

If we got Rice, which I pray to god we do, then Kamara or Zakaria would be back up as Rice is a similar yet better player than both of those.

Rice alongside someone like De Jong or Bellingham is the dream for me but Rice alongside Kamara or Zakaria whilst giving us a potentially great defensive foundation but little creatively, I’ve said lots of times on here that I’d happily see us use our summer budget plus sales on just rebuilding the midfield.

Yeah the midfield rebuild is top priority by an absolute country mile but whether our board will fund it is the question

 

[Pickle85]

Nope, i actually watch the games and understand the differences in demands for players that play for a West Ham and those that play for our club. Our players at the moment are falling well below the level of what we need. He won't help much himself.

If you don't think that Rice would add much to us at the moment then I can only assume that you haven't watched him enough. You moan about him not being comfortable enough on the ball and keeping it simple but he's tidy, keeps the ball well, carries it surprisingly well (and has been getting better), knows how to plug holes in the middle of the park and tackles well. Yes, he's not as good at using the ball as a Carrick or an Alonso but to improve us significantly he doesn't need to. Also, the differences in demands between United and West Ham are not as significant as you make out at present, clearly.

 

[Bebestation]

The most beautiful thing about Rice for me is his ability to be the player in West ham that can give that team is structure.

The back 3, the back 5, the back 2 - its all happening from where Rice is depending on where he decides he needs to be. He does that and he looks like a leader at West Ham.

 

[minoo-utd]

Do we have any chance getting him?

 

[Mainoldo]

If we got Rice, which I pray to god we do, then Kamara or Zakaria would be back up as Rice is a similar yet better player than both of those.

Rice alongside someone like De Jong or Bellingham is the dream for me but Rice alongside Kamara or Zakaria whilst giving us a potentially great defensive foundation but little creatively, I’ve said lots of times on here that I’d happily see us use our summer budget plus sales on just rebuilding the midfield.

Tielemans? I think a Rice partnership would be the best in the league. New RB too and we should see better football.

 

[davidmichael]

Tielemans? I think a Rice partnership would be the best in the league. New RB too and we should see better football.

Yeah Tielemans would be my third choice after De Jong and Bellingham and with a year left on his contract would be very attainable at a low price, could probably be got got £25-£30 million and is proven in the league but we’d definitely need Rice too as Tielemans needs someone like that alongside him as seen with N’Didi.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Do we have any chance getting him?

Sure, if we are willing to pay up 100m West Ham asking for.

 

[AneRu]

Tielemans? I think a Rice partnership would be the best in the league. New RB too and we should see better football.

Agree with this. I think it's doable too but I don't see Leicester selling for anything less than £40m. It's also doubtful that without CL football we'd be able to or the Glazers would sanction a £180m window. Our shit players are basically unsaleable due to the wages we pay so we cant even fund a mini rebuild from sales.

 

[Bebestation]

Only watched the first half but boy is it just me who finds the way he plays beautiful?

The guy plays like such a 1966 legend or leader, it feels like West Ham have this shape to their team primarily from where he positions himself. Feels like the opposition have to always try come out from wider positions because Rice is "just there" centrally.

Wish the guy was cheaper and we had the chance to buy him before the pre-neymar transfer price inflation.

 

[davidmichael]

Only watched the first half but boy is it just me who finds the way he plays beautiful?

The guy plays like such a 1966 legend or leader, it feels like West Ham have this shape to their team primarily from where he positions himself. Feels like the opposition have to always try come out from wider positions because Rice is "just there" centrally.

Wish the guy was cheaper and we had the chance to buy him before the pre-neymar transfer price inflation.

It’s our own fault we’re in the position we’re in so if we have to pay the premium then so be it, I don’t care if we have to pay £80-£100 million for Rice as he’s exactly what we need in midfield and as a leader on the pitch and at his age we’d get a decade at least out of him.

Rice and Bellingham or De Jong is the dream BUT I’d happily take Rice, Tielemans and Kamara coming in this summer. With Tielemans only having a year on his contract and Kamara on a free we could realistically bring the three in whilst moving Pogba, Matic, Mata and Lingard all on.

 

[Satsuma United]

Declan rice is what United need to go back to the glory days.

We havent had a leader in midfield for more than a decade. It is time and this young man is the one.

Forget about a prospect from i dont know wich league. Declan is a proven quality, leader in the league we play in.

Do it Ralf, do it.

 

[croadyman]

Declan rice is what United need to go back to the glory days.

We havent had a leader in midfield for more than a decade. It is time and this young man is the one.

Forget about a prospect from i dont know wich league. Declan is a proven quality, leader in the league we play in.

Do it Ralf, do it.

What is the best price we could get him for, whether Jesse going there could lower the price remains to be seen

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

He's good, and I'd like us to sign him, but he just seems like another obvious lazy, no scouting talent needed, that we'll end up chasing for two seasons, not signing an alternative in the meantime, with the team suffering as a consequence, option.

We've seen it all before, and I'd rather we just move on if we've got to go through the Maguire and Sancho motions again to get him.

 

[TonyMUFC87]

He's good, and I'd like us to sign him, but he just seems like another obvious lazy, no scouting talent needed, that we'll end up chasing for two seasons, not signing an alternative in the meantime, with the team suffering as a consequence, option.

We've seen it all before, and I'd rather we just move on if we've got to go through the Maguire and Sancho motions again to get him.

Lazy to want one of the best quality young DM’s around? So we don’t want to sign quality anymore?

 

[davidmichael]

What is the best price we could get him for, whether Jesse going there could lower the price remains to be seen

Lingard is out of contract in the summer so won’t be used as any kind of makeweight, we completely missed a trick with that last summer unfortunately when Lingard’s stock was the highest it had been in years and West Ham we’re genuinely interested, looking at around at least £80 million for Rice as clubs don’t need our money like they used too but it’s the clubs own fault for the mess we’re in so if we have to pay the premium so be it as Rice is exactly what we need.

He's good, and I'd like us to sign him, but he just seems like another obvious lazy, no scouting talent needed, that we'll end up chasing for two seasons, not signing an alternative in the meantime, with the team suffering as a consequence, option.

We've seen it all before, and I'd rather we just move on if we've got to go through the Maguire and Sancho motions again to get him.

Then the club shouldn’t waste time and should learn to be a modern thinking club where we’re proactive rather than reactive, don’t chase a player for two years and by cheap alternatives as short term solutions and just go all out for who we want.

We have the arrogance to call ourselves the biggest club in the world yet we can’t buy players from the likes of West Ham these days ? If Rice is who we want then start the work behind the scenes now, let’s actually put a plan in place if Rangnick is involved in who we bring in during the summer like a de facto Director Of Football and work on our targets now so they’re in before pre season and have a settling in period for us.

 

[Red00012]

I’ve enough of over paying for English players who are bang average , no thanks

 

[Swedish_Plumber]

Not sure I would go near him for 80-100 million. We’ve backed ourselves into a corner by spending big on average players, but there needs to come a point where we attempt to turn it around.

He’s better than what we’ve got but that doesn’t necessarily mean we sign him and it turns us around. There’s a great chance we sign him for 80 million and we look like idiots than that happening. Phillips at Leeds is around the same ability and cheaper if we want to go English.

 

[Bebestation]

It’s our own fault we’re in the position we’re in so if we have to pay the premium then so be it, I don’t care if we have to pay £80-£100 million for Rice as he’s exactly what we need in midfield and as a leader on the pitch and at his age we’d get a decade at least out of him.

Rice and Bellingham or De Jong is the dream BUT I’d happily take Rice, Tielemans and Kamara coming in this summer. With Tielemans only having a year on his contract and Kamara on a free we could realistically bring the three in whilst moving Pogba, Matic, Mata and Lingard all on.

I'm just scared at United with the fans, if the player is English and costs alot - then they are put under alot of pressure.

If a player is from any other country and fails us - then its no where near as much a pressure given to them.

Look at Pogba. He is pointed at for what he has said with Raiola to the media - rather than being a near 90 million pound player that has let us down.

 

[davidmichael]

I'm just scared at United with the fans, if the player is English and costs alot - then they are put under alot of pressure.

If a player is from any other country and fails us - then its no where near as much a pressure given to them.

Look at Pogba. He is pointed at for what he has said with Raiola to the media - rather than being a near 90 million pound player that has let us down.

I think most United fans see Pogba as a major flop who let us down both on and off the pitch and see him as only using us to further his brand as well we allowing that cnut agent of his to mug us off publicly, that’s our own fault though as we’re so poorly run we indulge the big names because Woodward allowed a galactico culture.

With Rice we’d be getting all the fundamentals right on the pitch and the right type of character for the club, someone who gives 100% on the pitch with leadership skills. I don’t care if we have to overpay as that’s our own fault for allowing ourselves to be in the position we are and being forced to pay the premium to get ourselves out of it.

Is Rice the answer alone ? No of course not as he’s a defensive midfielder so won’t win games on his own but what he will do is give us a solid foundation to build from and a step in the right direction, glamour signings are great but as seen over the years post Sir Alex and during Real’s and Barca’s ‘Galacticos’ phases the biggest names or most glamorous players don’t win you things without a solid foundation for them to work from.

 

[Bebestation]

I think most United fans see Pogba as a major flop who let us down both on and off the pitch and see him as only using us to further his brand as well we allowing that cnut agent of his to mug us off publicly, that’s our own fault though as we’re so poorly run we indulge the big names because Woodward allowed a galactico culture.

With Rice we’d be getting all the fundamentals right on the pitch and the right type of character for the club, someone who gives 100% on the pitch with leadership skills. I don’t care if we have to overpay as that’s our own fault for allowing ourselves to be in the position we are and being forced to pay the premium to get ourselves out of it.

Is Rice the answer alone ? No of course not as he’s a defensive midfielder so won’t win games on his own but what he will do is give us a solid foundation to build from and a step in the right direction, glamour signings are great but as seen over the years post Sir Alex and during Real’s and Barca’s ‘Galacticos’ phases the biggest names or most glamorous players don’t win you things without a solid foundation for them to work from.

Do you find yourself as one of the fans that sit their crying about how much money we spend on a player?

It's something I find very weird how it effects so many people. At times people like to bloat at our club like we are the richest in the world, and at times it seems like that is so far from the truth. It sometimes feels like we are the only club that makes this mistake when plenty of clubs do and always did.

My biggest hope for Rice would be that we get him because a good manager like Ten Hag does think he is good for our club - the same way Pep went after Walker, Stones Sterling and Grealish whilst believing in on Foden aswell when arguably being a manager with unlimited funds that didn't need a single "overrated English player at all".

I'm really scared that we get turned to some RB Leipzig club by someone like Rangnick who has been a very average coach throughout his career (albeit an influential one) - targeting players purely for their work rate than their actual footballing ability at all.

 

[phelans shorts]

Not sure I would go near him for 80-100 million. We’ve backed ourselves into a corner by spending big on average players, but there needs to come a point where we attempt to turn it around.

He’s better than what we’ve got but that doesn’t necessarily mean we sign him and it turns us around. There’s a great chance we sign him for 80 million and we look like idiots than that happening. Phillips at Leeds is around the same ability and cheaper if we want to go English.

1) Phillips is nowhere near as good as Rice

2) Leeds are a rival so even if they were willing to sell Rice for <£80m to some teams, we would have to pay a massive premium on top of whatever they would be willing to sell to, say, Newcastle. Plus we’d need to offer huge wages (possibly even more than we would Rice) due to the Leeds connection that Phillips has.

 

[Swedish_Plumber]

1) Phillips is nowhere near as good as Rice

2) Leeds are a rival so even if they were willing to sell Rice for <£80m to some teams, we would have to pay a massive premium on top of whatever they would be willing to sell to, say, Newcastle. Plus we’d need to offer huge wages (possibly even more than we would Rice) due to the Leeds connection that Phillips has.

1) What makes him nowhere near as good as Rice? He isn’t outshone by him in the England set up and Phillips has a similar impact on his club. When he didn’t play last season his side where poorer for it.

2) Even if that’s true it doesn’t justify splashing so much money on Rice and compounding our transfer misery whilst being further exploited by smaller teams for their assets in the future.

 

[JB7]

Not sure I would go near him for 80-100 million. We’ve backed ourselves into a corner by spending big on average players, but there needs to come a point where we attempt to turn it around.

He’s better than what we’ve got but that doesn’t necessarily mean we sign him and it turns us around. There’s a great chance we sign him for 80 million and we look like idiots than that happening. Phillips at Leeds is around the same ability and cheaper if we want to go English.

Yeah let's sign a player that openly hates the club. That'll help.

 

[JB7]

Rice and Bellingham or De Jong is the dream BUT I’d happily take Rice, Tielemans and Kamara coming in this summer. With Tielemans only having a year on his contract and Kamara on a free we could realistically bring the three in whilst moving Pogba, Matic, Mata and Lingard all on.

"Happily take" has to be one of the biggest understatements this forum has seen for years. Rice & Tielemans signed in the same window would be unbelievable.

 

[Bobade]

1) What makes him nowhere near as good as Rice? He isn’t outshone by him in the England set up and Phillips has a similar impact on his club. When he didn’t play last season his side where poorer for it.

2) Even if that’s true it doesn’t justify splashing so much money on Rice and compounding our transfer misery whilst being further exploited by smaller teams for their assets in the future.

The England set up is kind of irrelevant really. Club football is a different beast. Phillips does have a big impact for Leeds, but Leeds are sitting on 16th at the moment, whilst Rice is driving an improving West Ham team into the top 4. Also, doesnt Phillips hate Man Utd?

 

[Swedish_Plumber]

Yeah let's sign a player that openly hates the club. That'll help.

Im not saying we definitely sign him. I’m saying he’s an alternative to splashing loads of cash on a player I don’t think takes us to the next level. There are players out there who do that and stop our insanity in the transfer market.

If his hatred of United is so overbearing he can’t play for us then fine. Didn’t think that would be an issue in today’s game but fair fair play.

 

[phelans shorts]

1) What makes him nowhere near as good as Rice? He isn’t outshone by him in the England set up and Phillips has a similar impact on his club. When he didn’t play last season his side where poorer for it.

2) Even if that’s true it doesn’t justify splashing so much money on Rice and compounding our transfer misery whilst being further exploited by smaller teams for their assets in the future.

He’s nowhere near as good as Rice because Rice is a far better footballer. You say they have similar impact on their club sides, but ones club side is currently perennial Europe contenders and one is relegation contenders, the two are clearly working on a very different level by your own measure.

If you take Rice out of that West Ham side they stop being European spot contenders, add in his other attributes such as his undeniable leadership skills and its confounded that the two aren’t close

 

[Swedish_Plumber]

He’s nowhere near as good as Rice because Rice is a far better footballer. You say they have similar impact on their club sides, but ones club side is currently perennial Europe contenders and one is relegation contenders, the two are clearly working on a very different level by your own measure.

If you take Rice out of that West Ham side they stop being European spot contenders, add in his other attributes such as his undeniable leadership skills and its confounded that the two aren’t close

Last season showed Leeds and Phillips were only 6 points behind West Ham and Rice - impressive for a promoted side.
West Ham are over performing under a savvy manager and have more funds to reinforce and be more consistent. You could argue if you took Phillips out of that team last year they’d have had a standard relegation fight as we see they’re having now.

Rice is clearly having a good impact. I’m not saying he’s a bad player. He’s clearly a good player.

My original point was: is Rice going to be viewed as a good use of £80 -100 million 2 years from now? Or are we going to be looking like fools like we do currently with Maguire?
When do we draw the line of splurging out on cash on overhyped and costly English players when there might be better and cheaper alternatives out there?

100 million should be buying guaranteed game changers. 100 million on rice is not the same as 30 million on Rooney - when that was regarded as breaking the bank for world class English talent.

Id love to be proven right cause god knows we need a brilliant midfielder or 3. Just think we need to be sensible and realise 100 millions a lot and doesn’t leave much room for signing anyone else.

 

[JB7]

Im not saying we definitely sign him. I’m saying he’s an alternative to splashing loads of cash on a player I don’t think takes us to the next level. There are players out there who do that and stop our insanity in the transfer market.

If his hatred of United is so overbearing he can’t play for us then fine. Didn’t think that would be an issue in today’s game but fair fair play.

I don't think he is an alternative to that though really, I don't see any reason Leeds would allow him to leave for less than £60m given their status and his importance to them. And given he's a holding midfielder in a team that can't defend I'm not sure any side would see that as a reasonable outlay. As for our own "insanity" in the transfer market, I'm not sure I necessarily agree with that as I don't think that is fee related per-se, we tend to sign good players but with no idea how we are going to use them or how their strengths would best be used in our side.

And yeah, his teammates spoke about it openly last season saying how he had to really tone himself down before their home game with us.

 

[davidmichael]

Do you find yourself as one of the fans that sit their crying about how much money we spend on a player?

It's something I find very weird how it effects so many people. At times people like to bloat at our club like we are the richest in the world, and at times it seems like that is so far from the truth. It sometimes feels like we are the only club that makes this mistake when plenty of clubs do and always did.

My biggest hope for Rice would be that we get him because a good manager like Ten Hag does think he is good for our club - the same way Pep went after Walker, Stones Sterling and Grealish whilst believing in on Foden aswell when arguably being a manager with unlimited funds that didn't need a single "overrated English player at all".

I'm really scared that we get turned to some RB Leipzig club by someone like Rangnick who has been a very average coach throughout his career (albeit an influential one) - targeting players purely for their work rate than their actual footballing ability at all.

It doesn’t concern me in the slightest what we spend on a player as I like to believe our money men are competent enough to work out if we can spend £80 million + on a player and us not end up in financial ruin like Leeds or Portsmouth both did, my comment on finances was in reply to the notion that Maguire has more pressure on him or gets more hate than Pogba does because Maguire is English when Pogba gets justifiably more but his isn’t just based on his transfer fee.

If it is Ten Hag that comes in (but whoever in reality) then I also hope that Rice would be brought in because they believe he is key to a style of play they want to implement and is perfect tactically, I hate the idea of just buying players just because then shoehorning them in which is why I said that the galactico’s method doesn’t work as it is short of the basic fundamentals that are needed which Rice is that type.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

Lazy to want one of the best quality young DM’s around? So we don’t want to sign quality anymore?

I did't say that now did I.

I said he's an obvious one that we can all see is very good, but we need a midfielder this summer, as well as a couple of others, so much as I want Rice, he's not worth waiting for at the cost of us signing no midfielder this summer, or blowing all our budget on just him.

 

[choccy77]

Now available for £200m

United must sign him regardless.

Anyone that is in denial about his quality, should simply log off of this forum and football generally.