Gossip: Rivals hope to punish West Ham’s £100m Rice mistake

Chelsea, Manchester United and City all hope to sign Declan Rice after West Ham’s risk. And Alexis Sanchez robbed Ousmane Dembele of a move.

RICE COOKING
It really did feel as though West Ham missed the boat in January. A squad already stretched to its limits had shown signs of fatigue before the transfer window opened, winning one Premier League game of seven between November 20 and December 26. Consecutive defeats to Leeds and Manchester United to round out last month applied even more pressure but the Hammers did not blink, save for throwing about £50m bids that were never going to be accepted.

Considering they will be back in the Europa League soon and that grip on a Champions League qualification place has already slipped, things do not look great. But Chelsea and both Manchester clubs are intent on making matters worse. They were ‘encouraged’ by a lack of signings at the London Stadium, according to the Daily Telegraph, and feel West Ham ‘may have squandered their opportunity’ to gatecrash the top four.

Some Hammers players ‘are concerned’ that Rice will be tempted to leave if Champions League football or silverware is not delivered by May. The 23-year-old does have more than two years left on his contract, as well as the option for another 12 months. But their valuation of at least £100m is expected to come down; that the midfielder has not signed a new deal could ‘force’ West Ham ‘to consider big bids that fall short of that mark’.

West Ham transfer inertia could open up old wounds

OUSMANE IS THIS?
In terms of Manchester United, there have been numerous post-deadline explanations as to why they kept their powder dry last month. The Manchester Evening News go into great detail, quoting a source as saying: “We are running processes for our recruitment in the summer.”

One small titbit in that story explains why Manchester United did not take the Ousmane Dembele bait. Basically, they never sodding wanted to. The January 2018 move for Alexis Sanchez ‘badly burnt’ executives at the club and ‘that immediately quashed’ the chances of taking the unwanted Barcelona forward either on loan or permanently.

A rather mysterious ‘someone at the club’ went as far as to describe it as the “usual bs”. Bagpipes? Brioches? Buttocks?

DARWIN’S THEORY
Two transfers Newcastle will try and resurrect in the summer have been reported by the Daily Mirror, with their interest in Sven Botman and Darwin Nunez unlikely to dissipate. The Lille centre-half is valued at around £35m, while Benfica want £40m for Nunez, as well as at least a few weeks to source and secure a replacement. You listening, West Ham?

Those two signings would come into line with Newcastle’s target of a top ten finish next season, as well as the recruitment of a director of football ‘in the next few weeks’.

Of course, this all relies on the Magpies avoiding relegation this season. At that stage, the owners hope a fresh start and lack of focus on current league position ‘will increase their buying power’. Not sure Botman and Nunez fancy a season in the Championship all that much.