Declan Rice, who was heavily courted by FC Bayern, left his future with Conference League winners West Ham United open on Wednesday evening. Less than twelve hours later it is clear: the midfielder will leave London in the summer. The club boss David Sullivan blurted out on Thursday morning.
“We promised him that he could go, and in his heart he decided to do it,” Sullivan revealed in the “talkSPORT” interview that Declan Rice will be looking for a new challenge in the summer. The Hammers boss could not or did not want to say whether this is with Bayern Munich.
Very soon, however, his club will have to look for a replacement for Rice, confirmed Sullivan, who is finding it difficult to say goodbye to his star player: “We didn’t want it to happen. We signed him a contract for £200,000 18 months ago offered a week. He turned it down.”
Ultimately, according to Sullian, Rice’s rejected contract offer from the Premier League club cost ten million pounds (approx. 11.5 million euros) in salary. “But he wants to go. And you can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to be here anymore.”
FC Bayern has not yet made an offer for Declan Rice
The club boss expects a decision in the transfer poker in the near future. “I think the offers will start coming in from today. There are three or four clubs that have shown an interest,” he revealed.
However, out of respect for West Ham, whose season only ended on Wednesday, no concrete offers have yet been received. “Reputable clubs don’t do that,” Sullivan hinted that the interested parties are well-known clubs.
Does FC Bayern pay the Rice fee?
Rice himself was still cautious on the microphones on Wednesday and pointed out that he still had a two-year contract with West Ham. However, a true declaration of allegiance never escaped his lips. Instead, the 24-year-old fueled speculation by saying: “Let’s just see what happens.”
What happens now will also be of great interest to FC Bayern. The people of Munich have been traded as potential buyers for a long time. The transfer fee, which should be in the three-digit million range, is considered a stumbling block. Whether Thomas Tuchel will still get his dream player could be decided in the next few days.