Thank you for the days, Dec

So Declan Rice is joining a small club in Highbury that failed to win any trophies last season. At least the transfer saga is over and you have to say West Ham have got good money for Declan, £105 million being a record fee between British clubs. Man City previously paid £100m to Villa for Jack Grealish, but that deal presumably included the Grealish Sniper as well. 

There aren't many players who could make it clear they weren't going to sign a new contract yet remain so loved. Declan gave everything last season and left in perfect style, becoming the first Hammers' captain since Moore and Bonds to hold up a trophy. 

Rice looked special from his second appearance as a sub during a 4-0 drubbing at Old Trafford - he immediately stroked the ball around with a calm assurance that suggested he felt perfectly at home on such a stage. We've had six good seasons from him and Rice is now, along with Man City's Rodri, the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League. Had Pellegrini worked out, or West Ham managed to make the top four rather than sixth or seventh, we just might have got him to sign a new contract. But in a short career he was always going to want to play in the Champions League and was too good to be in a side that was struggling against relegation for much of last season. 

What's more, Declan seems to have been very well mentored by Mark Noble and comes across as a proper and humble human being - witness the video of him comforting the starstruck kid who bursts into tears upon meeting him. 

So it's no more years, Declan Rice. It's going to be horrible watching Declan in a red and white shirt next season. But I guess we'll always have Prague. 

A Rice auction can only benefit West Ham

Rumours are that Manchester City are going to enter the bidding for Declan Rice after two failed bids from Arsenal, while Manchester United might also be interested. He's definitely worth £100 million plus and perhaps even £120 million. Any kind of bidding war would not only put Declan's price up but give the Hammers the chance of suggesting a player exchange. Kalvin Phillips of Man City would be an obvious straight replacement and another option would be Man United's Scott McTominay - he can't stop scoring for Scotland but isn't rated by Ten Hag. Though no thanks to Maguire. Neither Phillips or McTominay are as good as Declan, of course, but both are solid Premiership performers.

If Rice goes to Arsenal it will be especially galling for those of us who live close to the Emirates and most Hammers fans would prefer him not to go to a London rival. In an ideal scenario Rice would fail dismally at his new club and then return to West Ham to play out of his skin - though that's not very likely given he's a consummate professional. More likely is that we'll get Declan back when he's 36 and crocked. Still, if he's insistent on going, let's get as much as we can for a brilliant young player.

Rice work in Italy

Good to see Declan Rice score from close range for England in Italy last night. And also for Deckers to respond to some of the recent criticism from pundits Graeme Souness and Roy Keane. He might be leaving in the summer, but he's still been putting in shifts for West Ham. Against Notts Forest he was the best player on the pitch while at Brighton he was booked through frustration, which isn't the sign on a player who no longer cares.

Souness had said of Rice's defensive midfield role: “This role is a vital part of any team because in an ideal world, it’s multi-dimensional. You’re creative, you chip in with goals and you’ve got a defensive head at all times. If you’ve got all three of those attributes, you’re worth your weight in gold. For me, Rice has just one." Which isn't really true. Rice has scored two spectacular goals for WHU this season, but his role is mainly to shield the back four and start attacks. The best defensive midfield specialists like Kante, Makelele and Deschamps were rarely super creative going forward. Declan's not going to be able to beat ten players or score 15 goals a season, but at the moment he's the best at his role in the country.

Mixed fortunes for World Cup Hammers

Well, Declan Rice is on the way home after it all went a bit Spursy for Harry Kane, but he had an excellent game against France and generally enhanced his reputation in Qatar. Nayef Aguerd had another fine match for Morocco against Spain but had to go off after 84 minutes with a worrying thigh injury. He missed the epic win against Portugal and could be a doubt for the semi-final against France. 

While you wouldn't have predicted forgotten Hammer Nikola Vlasic would be featuring in a World Cup semi-final after proving too much for Brazil. Vlasic, on loan at Torino, came on as a sub against Brazil and was involved in the build-up to Croatia's late equaliser. He also put away the first penalty in the shoot-out with some confidence. Might he still have a future at West Ham? Having spent £28 million on him it's not worth Moyes giving up on him just yet. 

Meanwhile the other Iron left in the competition is Alphonse Areola who will be on the bench for France unless Lloris gets injured. The Fonz is set to get two World Cup winners' medals without ever paying in a final — which is pretty cool and as my pal Matt says, a great trivia question.

Life after Declan

It's pretty obvious from Declan Rice's comments while on World Cup duty that he wants to play Champions League football and win trophies that he will be leaving West Ham in the summer. It's hard to blame him — a player of his talent will go to the very top and I'm grateful to have seen him in a West Ham shirt over the past six seasons. He'd certainly get in my all-time Greatest Hammers X1. The Irons had chances to make the Champions League in the previous two seasons but failed to sign a striker and were hampered by a thin squad. Those chances don't come round very often. 

Replacing Rice will be near impossible, but there's no way we should keep a player who is dissatisfied. The team might even benefit slightly from being less reliant on Declan. There's always the chance Soucek might regain the form of two seasons ago, though Flynn Downes hasn't as yet looked good enough to be Rice's successor, but to be fair he's often been played out of position. Should Man City come in then a player exchange for cash plus Kalvin Phillips might appeal. Whatever happens, it's going to be a big test for Moyes and West Ham. Under Moyes Everton sold Rooney but improved — we have to hope he can do the same again.

Who should take penalties for West Ham?

With Declan Rice having missed two out of his three penalties for West Ham, he really should be relieved of the job. Declan is a great player but not a great striker of the ball — a lot of his shots go over the bar as we saw with the chance he missed against Man City. Being captain does not mean you have to take responsibility for penalties. 

If Manuel Lanzini is playing then he has a decent record from the spot, though he wasn't on the pitch when the penalty was awarded at Forest. Antonio is probably better at instinctive finishes and missed a penalty last season. A technical player like Benrahma should be able to stroke home a penalty while Soucek might also be good for the job. And if Scamacca is in the side then he is a natural goalscorer who should enjoy adding to his tally. Cresswell might be another option as he can take a decent free kick. What the side does need is some certainty and Moyes should decide who the official penalty taker is quickly.

Declan decides?

Various papers have reported that Declan Rice has turned down a third contract offer from West Ham, but the club is still in a strong position. Deckers's contract has another two years to run, with the club having an option on a third year. He's not the sort to be unprofessional and go on strike so it looks like he would probably stay another season and then move on should a contract not be agreed. Whatever happens — and he'd be worth at least £150 million — it's been a privilege to watch him develop for the last five seasons and he shows all the signs of developing into a future England captain. Plus Rice seems to enjoy playing football much more than most modern players. Mind you, if West Ham could win the Europa League and get into the Champions League and then make some quality summer signings, we'd be in a much better position to keep him. Here's hoping...

Getting the best from Rice and Soucek

David Moyes has admitted that Tomas Soucek hasn't found his best form yet this season and appears to be looking leggy after playing in the Euros on top of a demanding season last time round. Is part of the problem that Declan Rice is getting forward too often and leaving Soucek as more of a defensive shield?

Yes, Declan can add goals to his game and has already scored twice in the Europa League, but Rice venturing further upfield seems to have detracted from Soucek's scoring ability, since his only goal so far has been the rebound from a penalty against Newcastle. Maybe there's a case for resting Soucek and giving Kral some more games.

Soucek did have a goal disallowed at Leeds and could have scored a late header against Brentford, so perhaps if he gets one then his confidence will return. Or maybe he just needs to eat more potato salad. Whatever, the two-week break might be a good time for WHU's array of coaches to consider some tweaks to central midfield. Rice has made his name as a holding midfielder and as with England, perhaps he needs to restrict his runs forward or alternate with Soucek. There's nothing too much wrong, but the balance doesn't look quite right at the moment.

A good night for Declan

Congratulations to Declan Rice on scoring his first goal for England last night — albeit aided by a Hungarian goalkeeper who appeared to have been coached by Roberto. It was a good night for Rice all round. He made the opening goal for Sterling with a classic example of the defensive midfielder's art, winning the ball and releasing Jack Grealish. And he also managed to mock the racist boneheads among Hungary's fans who booed taking the knee and abused Raheem Sterling by pretending to drink from one of the cups they had thrown at Sterling. That's the second cup he's lifted this summer, having also picked up the Betway Cup.

Declan goes underground

One happy legacy of Euro 2020 is that thanks to this Adidas ad, Declan Rice is still big in Finsbury Park station. This poster can be found on the Victoria line right in the heart of Arsenal country. COYI!

It's not coming home

Still proud of Declan Rice for his performance last night and it was a strange decision to substitute him late on as he was one of England's best players, along with Pickford. Declan certainly proved he could compete against top class players like Jorginho, Chiesa and Verratti. And his tears at the end showed just what it meant to him. At least not being on the pitch meant he didn't have a penalty. The new season will soon be with us and there will be fresh opportunities for Rice. He's played in a European Championship Final at 22 and can only get better. So let's go out there and win something with the Irons...

Declan's coming home...

Good to see Declan Rice play so sensibly in England's historic win over Germany. After picking up an early booking for a foul on the edge of the box he avoided giving the ref any more decisions to make and really grew into the game in the second half. It was great to see him launching into some inspiring tackles and then geeing up the England crowd. And to round off a good week for Dec there's now a giant poster of him in Finsbury Park station.

So next up it's Andriy Yarmolenko's Ukraine. Yarmy really is one of those players who looks better at international level rather than club football. He made another goal last night with a fine clipped cross and has already scored twice. If only we could see more of this at West Ham. Ukraine cant be underestimated and a semi-final against Denmark or Soucek and Coufal's Czech Republic wouldn't be easy either. But rather like Moyes at West Ham, Gareth Southgate seems to have developed a real bond among his players. If England can remain focused there's surely every chance of getting to the final and ending 55 years of hurt.

Declan respecting the pint

Interesting comment from Declan Rice that he's never drunk a full pint of beer. He's clearly no Jimmy Greaves, Frank McAvennie, Razor Ruddock or Hayden Foxe. And what would Bobby Moore say? Still, should West Ham win the Europa League then I'm sure we might be able to take him to the Refreshment Rooms for some London Stout or Meantime. 

Meanwhile old habits die hard. I'm hoping England win the Euros but that Declan is fairly inconspicuous — nothing to draw the attention of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. Similarly we don't want Soucek and Coufal doing too well for the Czech Republic in case clubs start making big bids. And another caveat is that Moyes shouldn't buy anyone on the basis of a good Euro tournament — the last time we did that in 1996 Harry Redknapp ended up with Florin Raducioiu...

Aaaaaargh!!! Rice crocked

It's the news we dreaded. Declan Rice is out for at least a month having picked up a knee injury with England in Poland. He could even miss the whole season and the Euros in the worst-case scenario. He's the one player we can't afford to lose and it's a massive blow to West Ham's European chances. In fact the Champions League qualification breakfast at Nigel's gaff in Kew Gardens might have to be be indefinitely postponed.

What are the options? If Declan is replaced by Mark Noble than at least Nobes would be playing in his proper position, not as a number ten. But can the 33-year-old Noble turn back time and produce a reprise of his finest performances? It's doubtful he'll be anywhere near as mobile as Rice, but here's hoping. The other alternative would be to play Soucek as a holding midfielder and pack the team with three attacking midfielders in Fornals, Benrahma and Lingard in the hope we can outscore the opposition. And I won't even mention Antonio's dodgy hamstrings…

Is Lingard what the Hammers need?

There's a lot of paper talk about West Ham signing Jesse Lingard. He'd be a strange signing when what the squad needs is a second striker, but presumably he'd take the place of Lanzini and be a decent player to bring off the bench. If he's a loan deal then it's relatively risk-free although West Ham would have to buy outright one of Benrahma and Dawson to free up a loan deal — and that would be no bad thing. 

Moyes knows Lingard from his time at Old Trafford, but the fear is that when players leave United they are usually on the way down. There seem to have been mitigating circumstances for Lingard's collapse in form, his mother was suffering from depression and he was left to look after his two younger siblings. He's also become a dad having had a child with a fitness model, as footballers are wont to do. So quite a lot has been going on with his private life. 

Perhaps Moyes can help get his career back on track. Lingard has scored in an FA Cup Final and Europa League Final and has 23 England caps, so the potential is still there at 28.

Meanwhile the sacking of Frank Lampard at Chelsea is good news for West Ham. The Athletic claims that Frank was starting to annoy his bosses by requesting a move for Rice. They were reluctant to sanction an £80m move for a player they gave away from their academy. New boss Thomas Tuchel is unlikely to be so obsessed with getting one payer. 

It's been quite a week. Big Fat Frank has gone, West Ham have gone up to fourth and Jack Wilshere has scored for Bournemouth. Strange days indeed.

I don't want to go to Chelsea

With West Ham playing Chelsea tonight the transfer rumours in the press are inevitably suggesting that Chelsea will come in with a big bid for Declan Rice in the January transfer window. The Athletic has even cited Neto's winner for Wolves against Chelsea as the sort of goal Rice would have stopped. Another source has suggested a Man United bid.

It strikes me that Declan is a sensible lad with a feel for the club and if he looks rationally at his career we all hope he decides to stick with the Hammers. At 21 he is the main man at West Ham, playing in a team that is improving. If Chelsea signed him for a fee of £70million plus it would place immense pressure on both Rice and Frank Lampard. 

If Chelsea's massive splurge on players doesn't yield a trophy or Champions League qualification then it's likely that Abramovic would revert to his traditional ruthless self and sack Big Fat Frank. This could leave Rice with a new manager who doesn't rate him as highly as Lampard. Declan would also have to adjust to not playing every week. He'd be up against the best holding midfielder in the world in Ngolo Kante plus a host of other central midfielders at the club. Whereas if he stays at West Ham as captain he's going to be a really hot property by the time he's 23 or 24.

Nor is Rice the type of player who would strike in order to force a move. Hopefully the club will demand a ridiculous fee if any bids come in and Declan will continue to develop with WHU. Or to put it another way, stick your blue flag up your...

Rice remains vital to West Ham's future

Some worrying press reports that Chelsea are trying to prise Declan Rice away from West Ham, Deckers started out at Chelsea and is best friends with Mason Mount. There seem to be some mixed messages coming out the club, with the Guardian saying that Moyes wants to build a team around Declan, although the Evening Standard reports that, "It is understood an offer of £70million would be acceptable and hard to turn down, although few clubs may be able to meet that price in a post-virus market."

For all the financial problems of Covid-19 there are plenty of savings to be made elsewhere. Pablo Zabaleta and the 65k-a-week Carlos Sanchez are out of contract in June. With three number tens in the squad there is a case for selling one of Anderson, Fornals or Lanzini. Yarmolenko must also be likely to depart and, if anyone will have them, Ajeti and Wilshere could go too. 

It's true that every player has his price and that after selling Wayne Rooney at Everton Moyes managed to use the money to sign the likes of Cahill, Arteta, Coleman, Pienaar, Jagielka and Lescott, who all did very well for him. But there's no guarantee Moyes would be able to do that again and the reason for moving to the London Stadium wasn't to sell our best players. If Declan demands to leave it would be unwise to keep an unhappy player; but until he does we have to build a side around this immensely talented young man. 

Declan done good

Proud to see Declan Rice make his England debut last night. Never mind all the nonsense about what he said on twitter as a 15-year-old (and what 15-year-old hasn't said stuff they later regret to try and impress their mates?) this was a West Ham youngster in an England shirt. Coming on when England were 3-0 up after 63 minutes was a nice way for Gareth Southgate to ease him into the England set-up. Rice even started the passing move with fellow youngsters Sancho and Hudson-Odoi that resulted in England's fifth goal. Declan has also made a little bit of history as having played for Ireland and England he's West Ham's first double international. And now he's completed a full 90 minutes in Montenegro — a good week for Declan. 

England's number 41!

Congratulations to Declan Rice on his first call-up for a England squad, though it's tough on Ireland fans. He's deserved it on his form this season (Deckers has even started to score goals), though we have to hope he doesn't draw too much attention to himself with the likes of Man City sniffing around. But still, it's always a source of pride to see a West Ham player in the England squad. Declan has made it after just 63 league games for the Hammers, which is quite an achievement. There will be blips in his form as he's still learning, but he could certainly be an England mainstay for the next decade.

Hands off Declan

Rather worrying that Pep Guardiola has said he's looking to buy a "holding midfielder" in the summer. With Declan Rice having just won the Evening Standard young player of the year award he's surely right up there in Pep's considerations. West Ham can't let him go, even if it's ridiculous money. We have to hope that Guardiola decides that Rice is still young at 19 and is bound to have a dip in form. At 25 he will surely be the predicted "basmati Busquets", but he needs time and experience first. Right now, Declan and West Ham need each other.