On May 2, Beijing time, ESPN reported that a source revealed that Manchester United is likely to sign West Ham United midfielder Rice this summer. But the deal is difficult, and it is still doubtful whether the Red Devils can successfully introduce the England international.
While still one of the biggest clubs in the world, Manchester United have been labelled “failure”, “mismanagement” in recent years and are likely to miss out on next season’s Champions League. Manchester United will inevitably face difficulties in the transfer market this summer as the club’s reputation has taken a serious hit.
Last month, West Ham boss Moyes said the team did not want Rice to leave. But the reality is that good young players will sooner or later be attracted to teams that promise big breakthroughs in their careers. Clearly, West Ham know this better than most, with Rio Ferdinand, Lampard, Cole and Carrick all leaving this way, with great success elsewhere. Older Hammers fans will remember how Paul Ince left the team. He moved for £1m in 1989 and was a huge success under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Sources have told ESPN that United want Rice to be a Paul Ince-like role, providing toughness, determination and leadership to a midfield position that is sorely lacking in depth and strength. Although West Ham may be open to asking for a huge transfer fee and possibly even breaking Grealish’s £100m Premier League transfer record last year when he joined Manchester City from Villa, Manchester United believes that due to the lack of competition in the transfer market Opponents, they have a chance to sign Rice.
Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are all unlikely to sign Rice this summer, while Tottenham and Arsenal are short of funds. If Rice decides to leave West Ham at the end of the season, Manchester United may be his only option. Rice has two years left on his contract with the team, while West Ham have an option to extend his contract for another year. Rice finished third in last week’s FWA Footballer of the Year vote, behind Liverpool’s Salah and Manchester City’s De Bruyne. Rice knows he can now earn the six-figure weekly wages that top club players enjoy.
It is reported that Rice’s current weekly salary is 62,000 pounds. A move to Manchester United could see his salary triple or even quadruple. Although West Ham wanted to keep Rice, they couldn’t offer him that salary. Even if the team wins the Europa League and gets tickets to the Champions League next season, if Rice triples the salary, the team will have to provide similar salaries for players such as Antonio, Bowen and Soucek. Then the Hammers will suffer financial collapse. Therefore, both West Ham and Rice will make a decision this summer, and Manchester United will use this opportunity to seek the possibility of signing the midfielder. However, United are not what they used to be, although playing at Old Trafford was the dream of many top players in the past. But it turns out that since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United has become a “black hole of stars”, as the experiences of players such as Lukaku, Pogba and Maguire have proved this.
Perhaps, United can make Rice a lot of money, but he doesn’t necessarily see Old Trafford as the next stop in his career if he wants to be a real winner.
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