West Ham ‘draw up 3-man transfer shortlist to replace Declan Rice including TWO England stars as they demand record fee’
WEST HAM have reportedly drawn up a three-man transfer shortlist of potential replacements for Declan Rice – including TWO of his England team-mates.
We revealed last night that the Hammers will start a £110million bidding war for the star after owner David Sullivan finally confirmed their captain can leave.
GettyDavid Moyes has drawn-up a shortlist to replace Declan Rice[/caption]
AlamyThe West Ham skipper lifted the Europa Conference League with the Hammers this week[/caption]
They will demand a Premier League record fee — in excess of the £106m Chelsea paid Benfica for Argentine World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez.
Rice, 24, led the Irons to their first major European trophy since 1965 on Wednesday as they beat Fiorentina 2-1 to lift the Europa Conference League.
More than 70,000 fans lined the streets of East London yesterday to hail their heroes on their open-top bus victory parade.
That is believed to have been Rice’s final farewell with Arsenal expected to bid for the midfielder Rice in the coming days, while both Manchester United and Bayern Munich could follow.
But while he may be going out of the exit door, boss David Moyes is already looking at players to come in and fill that huge void.
And the Daily Mail have claimed that there are three men on his wishlist.
They state that “Fulham’s Joao Palhinha has been identified as the No 1 target” following an impressive first season in England at Craven Cottage.
The Portuguese international, 27, won 147 tackles last term – the highest in the Premier League.
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But Moyes is also looking at some British beef, and two Three Lions international colleagues are also being looked at.
Kalvin Phillips has struggled to shine at Manchester City since his £55m transfer from Leeds a year ago.
The 27-year-old only started two top-flight matches but is believed to be determined to stay at the Etihad and fight for his place.
West Ham did previously try to buy him 18 months ago but had a bid rejected by Leeds, with City then moving in the following transfer window.
Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips is another name in the frame. The Hammers have a long-standing interest in the 27-year-old, who they bid £50m for in January 2022 before he left Leeds for City in the next window.
Despite only starting two games during the 2022-23 Premier League season, the 27-year-old is keen to stay in Manchester and fight for a starting berth next year.
However, Sun Sport exclusively revealed previously that relegated Southampton skipper James Ward-Prowse, 28, is the player West Ham want to replace Rice.
The Mail backed up our story by stating that the free-kick specialist is the third name on the list.
But they also added a fourth name into the mix as a potential back-up target – Man United’s Scottish international Scott McTominay.
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