EXTRA TIME

Rice Finally Gone, etc.

July 15, 2023 at 8:43 am Leave a comment

▶️ www.bbc.com/sport/football/66209874

“I want you to know how tough a decision it has been for me to leave an environment that I have loved and cherished so much.”

(Declan Rice’s ▶️ personal message to West Ham fans)

On Saturday, exactly one month before the new Premier League season will start, West Ham United finally have confirmed that Declan Rice leaved the Club for a British record transfer fee of £105m.

The 24-year-old England midfielder made a total of 245 senior appearances for the Club – the last of which finished in glory last month as he lifted the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy in Prague to end our 43-year wait for a major honour.

Having progressed from the Academy of Football at Chadwell Heath, where he began his Claret and Blue journey as a 14-year-old in 2013 before making his first-team debut against Burnley in May 2017, the Kingston-born midfielder has established himself as one of the greatest young talents in world football.

Winner of the Hammer of the Year award three times, in 2020, 2022 and 2023, and runner-up in 2018 and 2019, Declan made his full England debut in March 2019 and has since gone on to win 43 caps. He was named West Ham United Club Captain in the summer of 2022 following the retirement of Mark Noble and enjoyed a triumphant final season as David Moyes’s team secured only the second major European trophy in the Club’s history.

Earlier in the month the Club had informed that Manuel Lanzini (above) would leave West Ham. The Argentine midfielder joined the Hammers, initially on loan, from United Arab Emirates side Al Jazira in the summer of 2015, making the move permanent the following year.

Over his eight seasons in Claret and Blue, Lanzini made 226 appearances in all competitions and scored 32 goals – twice winning the Club’s Goal of the Season award, for his unforgettable last-gasp strike at Tottenham Hotspur in 2020/21 and then a superb volleyed finish at Crystal Palace the following campaign.

Hammer of the Year runner-up in 2016/17, Lanzini bravely fought back from a serious knee injury that cost him a place in Argentina’s FIFA World Cup finals squad in 2018 to regain his national team spot and play a key role in West Ham’s success over the last three years. He made eleven appearances in our glorious UEFA Europa Conference League run this season, scoring in our home and away victories over Danish side Silkeborg.

When will first transfer be made at West Ham?

The Hammers are now one of just three Premier League clubs yet to sign a player this window. With the first of three instalments of Declan Rice’s transfer now available, manager David Moyes should be able to start making much awaited business in this transfer window. And the manager has already declared that his “full focus” is now in bringing players in.

David Moyes also faces the task of rebuilding his coaching staff after his assistant coaches Paul Nevin (above) and Mark Warburton recently have left West Ham.

Furthermore it remains to be seen if Rob Newman will remain at West Ham as head of recruitment following the appointment of a new Technical Director, German Tim Steidten.

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