Former West Ham United defender James Collins has said that everyone at the club will be sad to see Declan Rice go this summer, if he does leave the Hammers.
The 24-year-old is being linked with several Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United ahead of the summer transfer window, with Hammers boss David Moyes admitting last week that there is a "good chance" that Rice could leave West Ham this summer.
It has been reported by the BBC that West Ham will not entertain discussion with other clubs over Rice's future until after the season has finished, with the Hammers preparing for the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final tie with Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
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But with the speculation increasing over the England international, Collins has said to Talksport that while he expects Rice will move on to join one of the biggest teams in the Premier League, any move for Rice must be done in the right way.
Asked if Rice is likely to leave this summer, he said: “Yeah, it looks that way. You know, Dec’s been an incredible servant to West Ham United, he’s our best player and is the talisman for our football club but he’s a wanted man.
“He’s played in the England team, he’ll be England captain one day and he wants to win trophies and a player of that calibre who is going to move onto one of the bigger teams, you can’t stand in his way sometimes.
“Everyone at West Ham will be sad to see him go but as long as it’s done in the right way and he moves to one of the bigger clubs, everyone will be happy for him.”
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