Manchester United have been linked with an £80million swoop for Declan Rice, but that valuation is way too high for now.
The midfielder has emerged as one of the hottest young talents in English football after breaking into the West Ham first team, and rightly so, but it has also been suggested people are getting carried away with the kind of figures that are being thrown about.
Even in today’s market of ridiculously inflated transfer fees, £80million is completely over the top for a player who is just 20 years old and still has a lot to learn.
Former West Ham and Manchester United star Paul Ince, a man who knows the position well, says the figure that has been put out there is ‘madness’ and it is hard to disagree with him.
Ince believes he has the potential to get to that figure at some point, but he still has a lot to learn and Manchester United would be crazy to pay it.
Rice’s stats for the Hammers have been very impressive for West Ham this season and he is without a doubt a top talent. It is no surprise United and other top clubs are keeping tabs on him.
He has made more tackles than anyone in the Premier League this season and is also right up there when it comes to the amount of interceptions he makes in a game.
Rice’s passing has been criticised at times, but again the stats say his pass completion rate is impressive and sits just below that of Liverpool star Fabinho.
Only Fabinho and Rodri have a better passing accuracy than Rice, so it is clear to see why the big valuation is out there, but it is still too big.
City splashed out £67million on Rodri in the summer, a player with much more experience. And while it could be argued that Rice is worth more because he has so much time on his side, experience at the top level, doing it week in week out over a number of years, counts for a lot more.
It is not just Rice, crazy figures are also being thrown about for Leicester midfielder James Maddison, and it will not be long be for the same is said of Mason Mount at Chelsea.
Rice is a top quality player with the world quite literally at his feet, but like Ince says it would be madness to spend £80million on him right now.
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