Manchester United should ‘spend a FORTUNE’ to bring Declan Rice to the club, insists ex-Red Devils defender Paul Parker… and has even likened the West Ham star to club’s legendary trio of Bryan Robson, Roy Keane and Paul Ince!
- Paul Parker has urged his former club Manchester United to sign Declan Rice
- The former defender insists they should ‘spend a fortune’ in order to sign him
- West Ham are reportedly willing to sell him for offers starting at £100million
- Parker believes United may have to spend £160m for the England midfielder
- He has also likened Rice to United’s legendary trio of Robson, Keane and Ince
Manchester United have to spend a fortune in order to sign West Ham star Declan Rice, insists Paul Parker.
The Red Devils interim manager Ralf Rangnick has given the club the green light to listing the England international as one of their priority targets this summer.
Rice, who is under contract until the summer of 2024, is yet to renew terms with West Ham and has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs as a result.
Paul Parker has urged Manchester United to sign West Ham star Declan Rice (pictured)
One of those clubs desperate to sign him is United, who understand they will have to splash out £100million to convince the Hammers to part way with their star midfielder.
However, following Jack Grealish’s £100m move to Man City last summer, Parker claims United may have to exceed the £150m mark due to Grealish’s move ‘not being worth’ the mammoth figure.
‘If you wanted to spend a fortune on a midfield player, go and get Declan Rice,’ Parker told Bettors.
‘Declan is the best central midfielder in the country.
Former United defender Parker insists they should ‘spend a fortune’ in order to sign Rice
West Ham are reportedly willing to sell their star midfielder for offers starting at £100million
‘If City wants to pay £100million for Jack Grealish, if someone wants you to pay £160million [for Declan Rice], then you gotta pay it because Jack Grealish wasn’t worth £100million. They’ve set a mark now.’
Rice has played a big part in the Hammers’ push for a top-four spot so far this season, chipping in with four goals and three assists in 24 appearances, with David Moyes’ men now just a point off the Champions League places.
And while Parker doesn’t want to ‘label’ Rice and the type of player he is, he does concede that the 22-year-old is the ‘closest’ thing United would get to signing a midfielder with the qualities of Bryan Robson, Roy Keane or Paul Ince.
‘Declan Rice is the closest player that Manchester United could ever get, who you would say is — ‘no he’s Bryan Robson, no he’s Roy Keane, no he’s Paul Ince.’ This is because he wants to do everything,’ he explained.
‘He’s one of those players who wants to say ‘please don’t label me.’ Don’t label me as a defensive midfield player. Don’t label me as an attacking midfielder as I want to be all over the park trying to control everything.’
The Red Devils are not alone in the hunt for Rice’s signature as Manchester City and Chelsea are also said to be admirers as he enjoys another fine season on the back of his success at Euro 2020.
Hammers boss Moyes recently insisted he is not worried about losing his star man to one of Europe’s elite clubs, despite comparing him with the continent’s best.
‘Well, Declan’s under a long contract here, under a long length of contract. So from that point of view we’ve not got a big panic on,’ he said.
Hammers boss David Moyes (left) has insisted he is not worried about losing his star man
‘We will keep Declan as long as we possibly can, we’ve no intentions of selling him. If we ever had to, I’ve said already many, many times what it would be – shoot to the moon.
‘Overall he’s done a great job. Hopefully he keeps driving the team on and I hope we continue to add good players to play with and around Declan.
‘My job is to keep building the club and build this level up and getting Declan players around him who are of a similar level and capable of playing at a really high level.’
