The thought of Declan Rice wearing the colours of another Premier League club has long filled West Ham supporters with dread and unfortunately for them, it is a prospect that could soon become a reality.
On Thursday night, the West Ham faithful were contentedly toasting a comeback win over AZ Alkmaar that inches the club closer to a first European final appearance since 1976.
That feelgood factor had mostly ebbed away by Friday lunchtime when David Moyes publicly admitted for the first time that Rice may leave the club when the transfer window opens this summer.
“We honestly hope he stays,” said Moyes ahead of Sunday’s game against Brentford. “We’d love for him to be a West Ham player but we are aware that might not be the case at the end of the season.
“So that’s one of the scenarios around planning. There are plans that we have Dec here but we’re also fully aware there is a good chance we won’t have him.”
There has been a sense of resignation at the club that their club captain would depart ever since he turned down a long-term contract offer worth a club-record £200,000 per week last summer.
Rice will soon enter the final 12 months of his existing deal, although the Hammers have the option to extend it by an extra year, a course of action they will surely take to maintain his market value.
It has been widely reported that the 24-year-old’s suitors will have to pay £120m to prise him away from east London and Arsenal have reportedly leapfrogged Chelsea and Manchester United in the race following an exceptional season that has seen them challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title.
If Rice does go in the coming weeks or months, it will certainly sting: not only is he West Ham’s best player, but he is also an academy graduate and club captain.
That disappointment would be partially offset if West Ham raise £120m for him, a fee that would eclipse the Premier League record set by Manchester City when they signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for £100m two years ago.
However, West Ham will be acutely aware that replacing someone so influential will be extremely difficult, no matter how much money they have to spend to do so.
Tottenham’s underwhelming recruitment in 2013 after selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for what was then a world record £85m fee has become the template for how not to fill the void left by a superstar. Christian Eriksen was the only one of seven signings made post-Bale’s exit to be an unqualified success in north London, while Erik Lamela was a cult hero to some fans despite not living up to expectations.
A substandard season suggests that West Ham need to strengthen in a variety of positions, but sourcing a like-for-like replacement for Rice is unquestionably their top priority. They cannot afford to be parsimonious when plugging that gap, given Rice has effectively been their anchor, playmaker, and box-to-box runner rolled into one.
Last Sunday, a video emerged on social media of Rice consoling a young fan brought to tears by being up close to his hero after West Ham’s 1-0 win against Manchester United. It showed not only Rice’s exceptional human qualities but also his connection with the club and its followers. That too will be tough to replicate.
Rice is already a legend to some West Ham fans, but he will go down in history as one of their all-time greats if he can lead the club to a first major trophy in 43 years in the Conference League. It would be a fitting send-off if that were to be the end of his West Ham career.
That too would soften the blow of losing their talisman, but given they have spent this season looking over their shoulder at the bottom three, West Ham can ill-afford a botched recruitment drive as they move on from Rice. It is already shaping up to be a significant summer.
