Manchester United are reportedly lining up a £50 million summer move to land in-demand West Ham United holding midfielder Declan Rice.
According to Independent, Manchester United are ready to move for Declan Rice in the summer. The West Ham United star is on the radar of a lot of Premier League bigwigs and the Red Devils are reportedly set to battle other suitors in pursuit of the former Chelsea academy star.
Released from Chelsea at 14, Declan Rice joined fellow Londoners West Ham United and has since soared higher than he would have imagined when being released. Not only is Rice an established player in the Premier League and impressing on the field, the 20-year-old has also become a full-fledged English international amidst controversy.
Despite already becoming a senior international for Republic of Ireland, Declan Rice chose to switch loyalties to England, something that made quite a bit of splash among former internationals on both sides. Focusing on the individual and his club career, Rice recently signed a new deal with West Ham, but is drawing serious interest from Manchester United.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to follow the ‘Manchester United’ model of success that was established earlier but driven home by Sir Alex Ferguson in the Premier League era. The model is to bring in the pieces at a young age and let them flourish instead of gambling on big names.
Manchester United, even during the Sir Alex Ferguson era, spent big, but mostly on young stars instead of established names. Rio Ferdinand was one such example. The former Leeds United star is widely regarded as one of the legends for Manchester United in the Premier League era.
The former player-turned-BT Sport pundit spoke to Independent on the matter, explaining how the transfer policy has changed from his time at Manchester United to the recent times.
“What United used to do better than anyone else was identify the best young players out there and use the pulling power of the club to get those players in. We had a young Pogba, a young Gerard Pique and players of that calibre at the club not so long ago, but the transfer policy has changed in the last few years and it has not always worked.”
Solskjaer intends to restore a similar transfer policy and is looking to bankroll moves for several youngsters, with Declan Rice high on the club’s agenda. The report iterates that West Ham are likely to demand £50 million or more for the 20- year-old.
While United have never shied away from paying the fees for any youngster they felt was the missing piece in their squad under Sir Alex Ferguson, it would be interesting if they do the same under the new manager.
