West Ham manager David Moyes untroubled by Declan Rice contract situation
- Planet Sport writer
- 24 April 2022
Declan Rice's future is not a cause for concern, according to West Ham boss David Moyes.
The 23-year-old captain is contracted to the London Stadium until 2024, with West Ham holding the option of extending that deal by another 12 months, but Rice has reportedly rejected West Ham's third offer of a new contract
Rice is a top target for Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea in the summer but has a huge price tag on his head, believed to be between £100-150million.
Moyes brushed off questions about Rice's contract situation, after the late defeat to Chelsea, and admitted he didn't know where the contract rumours had come from.
"We certainly didn't say that. Unless you've got who said it then I can't say it. We've not answered it really have we," he said.
"I've said it and I think we have said what we think. We like Dec and he's got three and a half years to go on his contract so I don't think there is any big panic.
"We've got three and a half years so it isn't the biggest priority. We've got other priorities, trying to add to the squad and get other positions in.
"Maybe he just wants more money. People do turn down contracts. It is not unusual for players at clubs to turn down contracts, maybe it is a negotiation tactic."
West Ham lost 1-0 at Chelsea with Christian Pulisic netting a last-minute winner, after Lukasz Fabianski had saved Jorginho's feeble penalty with four minutes to play.
Craig Dawson was sent off for fouling Romelu Lukaku to concede the penalty and now leaves the club without a recognised first-team centre-back for the upcoming Premier League clash with Arsenal next Sunday.
Moyes protected a handful of key players for next week's Europa League semi-final first leg at Eintracht Frankfurt, and used full-back Ben Johnson as a makeshift centre-back given the club's injury crisis in that position.
Moyes admitted he thought Dawson could have dealt with the danger ahead of conceding the penalty.
Moyes said: "We had hung in for long periods in the game. The penalty went in our favour with the save, and we just had to see out the last five, 10 minutes with 10 men.
"The defeat's a little bit undeserved, but we didn't defend well enough in those last four, five minutes. So that's it.
"I thought Craig he played ever so well, but I still think he should have got to the ball and cleared it with his left foot.
"But he didn't and he gave the referee a decision to make, and today it went against us."