West Ham United transfer chief Mark Noble has spoken out about the prospect of losing Declan Rice during the summer transfer window.
For a long time it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Rice would eventually re-join Chelsea whenever he decided to leave West Ham, having been released by the Blues during his formative years. However, in recent times Arsenal are said to have emerged as the frontrunners in the race to sign the England international and football.london understands that he is the Gunners' priority for the summer window.
Now, Noble, who is the Hammers' sporting director, has spoken about the 24-year-old's future in east London, admitting that the tough-tackling midfielder wants to move on to compete for football's top honours. Speaking to the the Evening Standard about Rice, Noble said: "Dec(lan) is no different.
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"Dec will always be hailed at West Ham as a fantastic player and such a top, top person. But I don’t think anyone begrudges him wanting to go and win things.
"We just hope he’ll keep performing like he has been over the last month or so. Wherever Declan ends up, or however much someone pays for him, whether it’s here or anywhere else, he’s worth every penny."
He added: "He’s said openly he loves playing at West Ham, but he has got ambitions as a player to go and play in the Champions League and win trophies. I don’t think any West Han fan can actually have an agenda over that.
"Do you blame him for having really big ambitions? Of course you don’t. If he didn’t, he probably wouldn’t be as good as he is."
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