Declan Rice is too 'hot' in the transfer market

The shirt at West Ham was too small.

A few years ago, Declan Rice was a phenomenon. Articles praising him flooded the pages of English sports newspapers, to the point of triggering a reverse trend: many people tried every way to… criticize him, claiming the praise was just an exaggeration by commentators. After all, Rice was a midfielder for West Ham – a team whose only concern was avoiding relegation!

Of course, when world number one manager Pep Guardiola pursued Rice, determined to buy him to replace captain Ilkay Gundogan who had just left Man City, the critics of the Rice phenomenon fell silent. Man City only joined the race for Rice's signature a few days ago. Previously, Arsenal was considered the number one destination for Rice. Rice's main competitor initially was Bayern Munich.

Declan Rice (center) played a major role in West Ham's success.

Thanks in large part to Rice's contributions, the small club West Ham not only managed to stay in the Premier League but also won the Europa Conference League last season. Clearly, West Ham has become too crowded to keep Rice's talent indefinitely. They had to sell him to a bigger club, to give him more room to shine. He deserves it. And it had to be, as a matter of course. West Ham has never shown that they would do everything in their power to retain the football talent they have nurtured.

Decide your own future.

Whoever offers the highest price will get Rice? Not at all. Because he is the one who decides his own future, not the transfer fee or salary. Rice is a big fan of manager Mikel Arteta, and that's why Arsenal was implicitly considered the next destination for this midfielder. The trouble only arose when Man City entered the picture. Rice himself would enter a different world, a different horizon would open up, under the coaching of manager Guardiola and (almost certainly) learn more about the principles of playing midfield, about specific knowledge he had never known before.

Rice himself faces a difficult choice, while the world continues to speculate about a price tag of around £100 million, with no clear bidder for West Ham. Lionel Messi can go to America. Karim Benzema can pursue a €400 million deal in Saudi Arabia. But in many respects, Declan Rice's transfer is the most talked-about, generating significant media attention and intense scrutiny from experts. It will require a very high transfer fee, accompanied by excellent professional discussions involving all three parties: Rice himself, his new club, and his old club. All of these will have to change, and change significantly, once this transfer is finalized.

Rice is a deep-lying playmaker (generally, he always plays in the deepest position from midfield upwards). Statistically, it's quite simple: Rice will be the "best" midfielder, or in the top 5 or top 10 in specific areas. But those are just "dead" statistics. In reality, he excels beyond what the numbers suggest. He's almost invincible. When he intercepts or tackles, it's not just about the statistics (averaging 4.1 successful tackles per game). He often does this in crucial situations, and he's also a complete all-around midfielder. And he plays incredibly consistently (always playing over 3,000 minutes per season in the Premier League). Statistics also show that Rice is the player with the fastest ability to transition his team from defense to attack in the Premier League.

Despite having 43 caps for England, Rice is only 24 years old. His best form is yet to come. This is even more certain because he will soon be playing for a team of a much higher caliber than West Ham. He's become a "hot commodity" because no one is hesitant to spend money on him: if you buy him, you might even be able to sell him for a higher price later!

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