Declan Rice

[Aztec Hammer]

His stock has fallen this season. I’ve not seen one performance from him that comes close to Everton away last season, to name one. With a player if his stature in midfield we shouldn’t be where we are.

On another note, someone who has made it clear he wants to leave should never have been made captain.

Some truly excellent midfield players have been relegated before (and other positions). Agree he hasn't been at the same level though not entirely sure how much of that I attribute to him alone. Still probably our HOTY at this point, which probably says more about the rest of them and the tragic league campaign than it does about Rice being particularly great this season.

[Aztec Hammer]

All the hate he gets for being Captain (not singling anyone out on here in particular, but I see and hear it a lot in general from different places) will make it that much sweeter if he lifts a trophy for us at the end of the season.

Best player I've seen play for us - yes, I'm an age where I never saw us win anything so that rules some obvious shouts out - and has been a fantastic representative for the club in all facets. I hope that when he does leave, that doesn't get damaged by either side.

I still think that should we win the Conference, it isn't a foregone conclusion just yet.

[Believer]

We should’ve signed a couple of “leaders” in the summer to try and replace Noble in the background and share the load of responsibility.

Agreed and this needs to be priority in the summer.

I must admit though, it was good to see a little bit of banter on the bench the other night which is something that appears to have been lacking this season. A happy workplace regardless of the industry is always critical. Our togetherness over the last couple of seasons was always evident and would have played a part in our success. Hopefully as the squad start to bond more, this will show in both our performances and results…

[irving boleyn]

Mark's enthusiasm for the bit part he played during his last season supporting Declan was inspiring.

Dec would have wanted to follow this, but I guess the circumstances have proved to much for the youngster at this stage.

[Believer]

Mark's enthusiasm for the bit part he played during his last season supporting Declan was inspiring.

Dec would have wanted to follow this, but I guess the circumstances have proved to much for the youngster at this stage.

Had we hit the ground running this season, his job would probably have been easier as well. I’d guess that captaining a winning team is easier than one trying to replicate the past 2 seasons but playing like the bunch of strangers we appeared to be. This season will help him massively as he gets older. Unfortunately, some other team will benefit..

[Rocketron]

His stock has fallen this season. I’ve not seen one performance from him that comes close to Everton away last season, to name one. With a player if his stature in midfield we shouldn’t be where we are.

On another note, someone who has made it clear he wants to leave should never have been made captain.

You are obviouly too young to remember Moore Hurst and Peters,we never were far from flirting with relegation.

[Colours never run]

His stock has fallen this season. I’ve not seen one performance from him that comes close to Everton away last season, to name one.

Any of the England games at the World Cup for starters. Don't think his stock lowered all that much on the biggest footballing world stage of all. Sure he's not been at his usual high levels for him for us this season, but he's still been reducing some real quality now and again.

[hammerman11]

buying clubs will look to drive price down with his poor form for us this season. IF we take anything below 120m we have been robbed.

IF we have a strong finish and win the ECL who knows what might happen. small chance but we have to hope.

new owners, new manager , new hope !

[Crouchend_Hammer]

The clubs who will be in for Rice have been monitoring him for years
They all know what he can do and what his value to their club will be by seeing him play week in week out at club and international level for five years
West Ham having a poor season will not have an impact on how much in demand he will be

[hammerman11]

true and lets hope they dont rip us off with the fee. cant say I have much confidence with sullivan involved !

[Dieter Eckstein]

Out of interest, does anyone know the record fee received for a player from a relegated club? His form might not have an impact on the level of interest, but our league position will have a massive impact on how much money we get for him. Unless there's a massive bidding war, I'd be pitching a starting offer at around 50 million, based on the knowledge that there are books to be balanced, and the fees that relegated clubs are generally forced to accept in the end.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Out of interest, does anyone know the record fee received for a player from a relegated club? His form might not have an impact on the level of interest, but our league position will have a massive impact on how much money we get for him. Unless there's a massive bidding war, I'd be pitching a starting offer at around 50 million, based on the knowledge that there are books to be balanced, and the fees that relegated clubs are generally forced to accept in the end.

If we are relegated it will have an impact on his price, but if we don't, it won't

[Colours never run]

Doesn't bear thinking about as it'll cut his value significantly and we won't be in a strong bargaining position had we stayed up. Another big reason to avoid relegation, if some still needed convincing just how important it is to avoid relegation.

[fjthegrey]

It really isn't important how much we get for him. Nowhere near as important as people are making out.

The bigger the fee, the more our next 4-5 signings cost. Everyone will know we are relatively cash rich and there'll be a premium on everyone we express interest in.

His direct replacement should also not cost an exorbitant amount. Trying to replace him like for like is utterly futile and we'll just end up overpaying for someone if we go that route. Gotta be smarter about it.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

It really isn't important how much we get for him. Nowhere near as important as people are making out.

The bigger the fee, the more our next 4-5 signings cost. Everyone will know we are relatively cash rich and there'll be a premium on everyone we express interest in.

His direct replacement should also not cost an exorbitant amount. Trying to replace him like for like is utterly futile and we'll just end up overpaying for someone if we go that route. Gotta be smarter about it.

I am not sure i agree with your first point, as the more money we get for him means the more we have to spend across the squad

But, yes, i agree with the last point. When he goes we should be looking to buy a proper DM. Doesn't need to be the best player available. Just someone who knows how to do the 'sitting in front of the back four' role very well. They don't need to cost much as they are ten a penny in France. Then use otehr available funds elsewhere

The worst thing to do would be to drop £40m on a 'Declan Rice replacement' just to appease everyone

[Dieter Eckstein]

It really isn't important how much we get for him. Nowhere near as important as people are making out.

The bigger the fee, the more our next 4-5 signings cost. Everyone will know we are relatively cash rich and there'll be a premium on everyone we express interest in.

His direct replacement should also not cost an exorbitant amount. Trying to replace him like for like is utterly futile and we'll just end up overpaying for someone if we go that route. Gotta be smarter about it.

Fair point about incoming transfers, but doesn't it influence the amount of players we can afford to keep, if we get relegated? Granted, if we get relegated, we probably won't be able to keep our best players, and we'd probably rather offload the ones we can't sell, but getting absolutely fleeced for Rice could be the difference in potentially convincing Benrahma, for example, to stick around for a year to tear up the Championship.

I appreciate there are a lot of big 'ifs' there.

[El brooko79]

It really isn't important how much we get for him. Nowhere near as important as people are making out.

The bigger the fee, the more our next 4-5 signings cost. Everyone will know we are relatively cash rich and there'll be a premium on everyone we express interest in.

True to an extent I think, but we made £170m worth of commitments this season likely to be paid over the next 3 or so years.
So less Rice money means less available for that also.

Also unlikely we would be cash rich. Most transfers are paid over a number of years and Rice would be the same.

New ffp rules mean that clubs need an income strategy also.
Getting all the Rice money they year could be detrimental as we cannot spend it this year. Better to get some in the following year to offset spend when we could.
Complicated business.

[fjthegrey]

Fair point about incoming transfers, but doesn't it influence the amount of players we can afford to keep, if we get relegated? Granted, if we get relegated, we probably won't be able to keep our best players, and we'd probably rather offload the ones we can't sell, but getting absolutely fleeced for Rice could be the difference in potentially convincing Benrahma, for example, to stick around for a year to tear up the Championship.

I appreciate there are a lot of big 'ifs' there.

If we get relegated then I'd say there's even less reason to care about what Rice goes for. Our squad is getting decimated, it'll be a huge mess and I personally will check out of it all. It'll be a clear out the deadwood and start again event. Counting the beans to see which disinterested player we can keep hold of to play football in the Championship. Yeah I'm gonna say at that stage the money we get for Rice doesn't matter much.

Also unlikely we would be cash rich. Most transfers are paid over a number of years and Rice would be the same.

The perception is that we will be, Villa got shafted when Grealish was sold, Everton with Lukaku. It always happens, even if we aren't forced to pay more money up front, they'll want more overall.

Getting all the Rice money they year could be detrimental as we cannot spend it this year. Better to get some in the following year to offset spend when we could.
Complicated business

This seems like a very simplistic view of how accounting works mate.

[StevePottsGoalsReel]

This is more about the West Ham captaincy in general than Rice per se, but thought this was an interesting aside in the second half of this egg-chasers video:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/rugby-union/65009087

Sam Warburton references spending 2 hours in the video room just to watch and learn from how Richie McCaw would interact with a referee throughout a game.

I wonder if being captain at West Ham comes with any more prep than being told which way up the armband goes.

[El brooko79]

This seems like a very simplistic view of how accounting works mate.

Its FFP.
Next year you will only be able to spend 80% of your revenue.
It's what Chelsea have done with their outgoings and clubs will have to consider it with their incomings also.

If you are due to pay £50m on transfers for each of the next 2 seasons, you may consider you are better off getting £50m each year from your sale rather than £100m today to offset it.

I am not oversimplifying accounting, I am suggesting clubs are going to need a strategy for both incoming and outgoing transfer commitments with a basic example.