West Ham are doing the right thing by offering a new contract to Declan Rice
According to the report in the Sun, West Ham United offer Declan Rice around £15,000-a-week for signing a new deal. The player is currently taking about £3,000-a-week, which is quite low for someone who is playing regular games in the Premier League.
Rice is one of the hottest properties in the league right now and is the subject of a tug of war between England and Ireland. His current deal expires in the summer of 2020, though West Ham are keen to increase the stay and offer more money. This is despite the club having an option of increasing the contract by a year on original terms. (Sun)
The Hammers have made a twitchy start to the season, losing the first four games but getting four points from the last two. New manager Manuel Pellegrini is still finding his feet at the London stadium and with plenty of new signings in, the Chilean is figuring out the best eleven.
Rice has started three league games thus far, performing very well in the latter two. The 19-year-old is oddly enough not playing in his natural centre-back position; rather the manager has opted to deploy in defensive midfield.
This ploy, to some extent, has worked because the youngster looks good on the ball and is defensively switched on. So in a way, it makes complete sense for West Ham to offer a higher wage and new contract to the player. Here’s why:
Home-grown Talent
At the end of the day, Rice is a home-grown player who is touted to become one of the best in the business. Big clubs are scouting and keeping close tabs on him. (Sun) If we remove the Liverpool away performance from this season, the teenager fared well against Everton and Chelsea.
He looks calm and assured in whatever he is doing on the pitch. Being a defensive midfielder, the one you need to have is game awareness defensively; the 19-year-old has that in abundance. He is extremely confident on the ball (boasting a pass success rate of 83.7%) which helps the team to rely on him in possession.
Rice is predominantly a centre-back, so he can slot ahead of the defenders and win aerial duels, make tackles and interceptions. It makes the work of the men behind him easier, as they are more concentrated on picking their man, rather than worrying about what their shield is doing.
Stating the above facts, it is clear that West Ham are doing the right thing by offering a new contract to the player.