West Ham United might have to find themselves a Declan Rice replacement this summer.
The 23-year-old has established himself as one of the Premier League’s finest midfielders in recent years and also helped England to a Euro 2020 final last summer.
His stock is rapidly rising and Sky Sports reported earlier in May that the player had rejected a contract extension.
Rice is contracted to West Ham until the summer of 2024 and Chelsea and Manchester United are among those interested.
If the towering midfielder is genuinely refusing to sign an extension, the Hammers are vulnerable to losing him this summer, given that his value will plummet this time next year if he still hasn’t inked a new contract.
Calciomercato have been writing about the Irons’ problem when it comes to Rice and the Italian publication has intimated that the East Londoners are interested in signing Kristjan Asllani.
The 20-year-old has been making waves in Italy with Empoli this season and Calciomercato wrote that West Ham – and Leicester City – may be looking at the player as a replacement for Rice and, in the Foxes, case, Youri Tielemans.
The report adds that Asllani wouldn’t cost either Premier League outfit more than £10 million.
The Londoners clearly want to keep Rice there for the long term, with talkSPORT writing that the contract offer – which was rejected – was an eight-year extension.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the player has rejected as many as three extensions from the Hammers now and the club, if they aren’t already, will definitely be looking at a Declan Rice replacement this summer.
Whether the young Albanian midfielder is a viable candidate, however, remains to be seen
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