David Moyes admits reported Man United target could be sold
West Ham manager David Moyes hints the Hammers may need to sell Man United target Declan Rice to rebuild
David Moyes has admitted that West Ham could be forced into selling Manchester United target Declan Rice to fund a rebuild at the club.
The England international has been heavily linked with a move to the 20-time English champions over the past year or so.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is thought to be eager to improve options in the middle of the park amid uncertainty surrounding Paul Pogba’s future.
Manchester United have struggled in the absence of Pogba and Scotland international Scott McTominay as the pair recover from injury.
Rice has been one of the bright sparks in the West Ham side despite the east London outfit’s miserable run of form over the past couple of months.
Speaking at his pre-match media conference ahead of West Ham’s clash against Manchester City on Sunday, Moyes gave an update on Rice.
“In my mind he is arguably the best holding midfield player in the country and the best thing about Declan is he will get better,” Moyes said.
“Declan is carrying a lot of the team at the moment and he’s the one who will carry on from Mark Noble when it comes to an end for him.
“Quite often when building a club you have to sell. I hope it’s not the case with Declan but I said the same with Wayne Rooney and Joleon Lescott [at Everton].
“But the team got better because we were able to sign the right players to replace them. If that ever came around [Rice leaving] I’d hope we’d be able to do the same here as well.”
The 21-year-old has made one assist in 25 appearances in the Premier League this season.
Rice has spent four seasons in the first team at West Ham after he broke into the starting XI in 2016-17.
The former Republic of Ireland international has netted two goals in 99 games.
Manchester United will return to the English capital for their next Premier League game against Chelsea FC on Monday 17 February.
