West Ham United have been backed to secure the signing of Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie and three or four more players by Paddy Kenny.
Speaking to Football Insider, former Premier League goalkeeper Paddy Kenny has tipped West Ham United to swoop for Juventus and USMNT midfield star Weston McKennie and three or four more players if they offload Declan Rice for £90 million.
Rice has been an integral part of the West Ham United side for the last few years and established himself as one of the best in his position in the country. Naturally, the bigger clubs have been sniffing around for a while now. And even though the 22-year-old reiterated his commitment to the club recently, he is believed to have turned down multiple contract offers already from the Hammers.
And, in order to avoid the scenario of running down his deal, West Ham are prepared to offload him for a sum of £90 million, as per the report, which Kenny believes should equip them to go after several quality players in the transfer market, including McKennie.
“You could see them signing him and three or four others with that kind of money. It’s a huge amount of money, £90m. They could maybe get McKennie and then spend the rest of the money getting a few more in. It’s no coincidence that these stories have come out at the same time. They are probably thinking that if he does go, they want to strengthen even more,” he said.
West Ham United have been heavily linked with a move McKennie of late. Indeed, reports have claimed that the east London giants had already begun laying the groundwork for a deal by opening talks with Juventus for his signing.
Furthermore, latest reports also indicated that the Serie A bigwigs themselves may be ready to cash in on the 23-year-old, provided their transfer fee demands of £35 million be met by any prospective suitors. Should West Ham offload Rice for the aforementioned valuation, they will have more than enough in their kitty to splash the cash on McKennie and a few other players.
However, that should not necessarily mean that the club will be dependent on Rice’s departure to sign new faces. The 22-year-old England international is a major cog in the wheels for David Moyes & co. and they will fight tooth and nail to keep him at the club. And a move for McKennie could be in the works parallelly without the two being interlinked.
