Our plan was always to keep Declan Rice at the club, proclaims David Moyes

Over the last few years, few English players have thrived in England as much as Declan Rice has with the West Ham star’s transformation into a defensive midfielder attracting interest. However, while many believe Rice’s future lies at centre-back, his performances as a midfielder has seen the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and a few others all make their interest known. The Blues are reported the top suitors for the 21-year-old this summer despite reports of a £70 million asking price.

That hasn’t deterred the London side so far with them making a host of signings although West Ham are in no hurry to sell as Rice has four years left on his current contract. However, despite the interest growing from Chelsea’s side, West Ham boss David Moyes has admitted that the club’s plan is to not sell arguably their best player. Moyes further added that Rice has the potential to become a Hammers captain and maybe even go on to do something even bigger.

"We have still got a long way to go in the window, maybe somebody has the Bank of England but nobody has shown that. It was always the plan [to keep him], there was no intention to lose Declan Rice. We have had no bids and no enquiries. There is a lot of speculation but I can only tell you what I know," Moyes told reporters.

"I wouldn’t want to lose him anyway because he is too big a player for us, he is too important and a big part of the squad. He’s been captain already, I think he is learning a lot of leadership from Mark Noble, so I hope in the future we will have an incredibly talented footballer with great leadership skills and will be the captain of West Ham."