Gary Neville questions Declan Rice’s £100m price tag amid Manchester United links

Gary Neville doubts whether Declan Rice is really worth £100m, as Manchester United (opens in new tab) continue to be linked with a move for the West Ham (opens in new tab) captain.

As Rice approaches the final 12 months of his contract with the Hammers, there is a growing sense that this will be the summer when he finally departs the London Stadium.

It has been widely speculated that West Ham will demand £100m or more for the England midfielder, 24, but Neville feels such a fee would be excessive.

Speaking on Sky Sports, the United legend explained:

“There’s no doubt for West Ham he’s their best player. He is influential; he’s been brilliant for England. I think the only sort of criticism comes in the supposed price tag being asked for him is around £100million.

“When you get a £100million player you expect they are going to be the complete player, so from that point of view is Declan as good as say Rodri [of Manchester City (opens in new tab)] or Casemiro receiving the ball from the back four? Is he as good as say Bruno Fernandes going forward, or a player of that ilk? No.

“He fits in between a little bit of both of them, there’s no doubt he’s an excellent player, great character, someone who is important to his club, but I think the challenge is who’s going to pay £100 million for him and is he that type of value? It’s not so much a criticism, more an observation around his ability relating to that price.”

Arsenal (opens in new tab) and Chelsea (opens in new tab) have also been rumoured as possible landing spots for Rice, who has firmly established himself as a key member of Gareth Southgate’s England side.

Rice has been as integral as ever to the West Ham cause this season, starting all 27 Premier League games for David Moyes’ side as they battle to avoid relegation.

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