West Ham United manager David Moyes has insisted Arsenal got a bargain by paying just over £100m for Declan Rice last summer.
The dynamic midfielder became the most expensive British footballer in history during the 2023 summer transfer window, with the Gunners forking out a whopping £100m plus an additional £5m in performance related add-ons. That lofty price tag hasn’t weighed heavily on Rice, however, as the England international hit the ground running at the Emirates Stadium – becoming a key player for Mikel Arteta’s side instantly.
As well as being an expectedly effective screen in front of Arsenal’s defence, Rice has also made huge contributions in the final third too, bagging his 11th goal contribution of the 2023/24 season with his strike in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Brentford.
Speaking about his club’s former captain to the press, West Ham boss Moyes admitted he believes Arsenal got a great price for the superstar midfielder.
“I always said, and I think everyone laughed, that he should be £150m,” said Moyes. “I think other players have been sold for close to his price and I don’t think they’ve touched Declan’s level of performance.
“The other thing is Declan is English, an England international, and he’s 25 now so he’s still got another six or seven years of his best years still to come.
“So, I think in time maybe we’ll look back and think it could have been more. But let’s be fair, I think most people including the media, everybody, would have said it was a really good price for Declan at the time.”
Rice’s goal on Saturday helped move the Gunners to the top of the Premier League table, one point clear of Liverpool and two ahead of Manchester City ahead of the pair’s mammoth Super Sunday clash at Anfield.
