With Man City looming, we’ll find out what kind of player Declan Rice really is
All right. My previous post may have been a little too Pollyanna (sort of? It’s so hard to keep up). While it is true that under Arsene we have (or have been) lost our reputation as a club that outruns other clubs, falters and eventually loses coveted players, the saga with Declan Rice has an evil and unwanted twist. Manchester City caught the scent of blood with the unquenchable and relentless precision of a hungry shark, and we will soon find out what kind of player, what kind of person Declan Rice really is. For weeks now it has been rumored that Rice wants to stay in London and play in the Champions League. That position narrowed his options considerably as we are the only club to tick both boxes. However, according to Fabrizio Romano, the would-be Orstein is now “open to many moves”. If this is true then all bets are off and it depends on how much West Ham think they can get… and what kind of minerals Rice has.
You can’t blame West Ham here. They are about to sell their best player; It’s their prerogative to take their time, fake an injury and take their time with set pieces and stuff like that. Without the need for reinvestment, they could stall until just before the window closes. While we might blame them for refusing to back down, they’re right when they do. We would expect the same if we were ever able to sell a Talisman player who doesn’t… uh… doesn’t care. Let’s get to Rice and her options. He could just stay. If he did, he would have the chance to join a pantheon of club legends: Bobby Moore, Trevor Booking, Billy Bonds, Geoff Hurst, Alvin Martin and Mark Noble, among others. Granted, he would have pretty much lost any chance of a title beyond the Europa Conference League or the occasional League Cup, and maybe an FA Cup shot or maybe even a Europa League title, but he would do so as a beloved retired player who has remained loyal despite – or perhaps because of – interest from bigger and financially stronger clubs. He would get a statue outside the stadium in London. Unfortunately, for long-suffering Hammers fans, that seems like the least likely option. Oh yes. man city Where the streets are paved with gold, the pigeons poop doubloons and the girls are fair… Now that the Man City rumors seem to quash Chelsea’s idea of stealing our transfer targets, Rice has to think about what it would mean for his soul. for sale. Sure, he’d set the stage for easy silver medals – one, two and sometimes three trophies a season – but he’d have to consider what he’s selling and at what price. After all, Man City have just won the treble. Rice needs to know that they don’t really need him, even after Gündoğan is gone. They signed Kovačić, for what it’s worth. Rice needs to know he’d be just another expensive trinket, just another flashy trinket spinning and sharing time with Kovačić, Rodri and Phillips, not to mention Stones and Silva, each of whom pops into DM from time to time .
Does he have the minerals to join a young, up-and-coming team that failed to win the Prem? Does he see himself as an indispensable fighter who demands to play every weekend to help his club earn the silverware? Is he hungry enough to help us take the next step? Only he can answer these questions, but the role he plays in solving this relocation saga will earn us some tea leaves that are as easy to interpret as a child’s menu word search. Joining this club would show that Rice doesn’t just want to be a barnacle on the hull of a huge warship. He wants to be at the helm or at least on deck, fighting and tearing down and struggling. We can’t guarantee silverware like City do. We can give him a chance to feel like he deserves everything we get.
So what’s it going to be, Dec? Of the three options, I think you know my unbiased opinion. I mean that – for example, I still have a grudging respect for Jamie Vardy who, while a little dim-witted in other ways, refused us to stay in Leicester and presumably retired as one of Fox’s all-time greats. The next contract you sign will probably be the best time of your life, so I understand how important that is to you. You have a short time frame to make as much money as possible in this profession, you have a family to support, you have decades to live after your career ends. I really hope you spend the next five years (or more) of that career here, making that money and (hopefully) earning those trophies.
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