Manchester United could make bid for Declan Rice in January transfer window

The Red Devils were interested in the West Ham midfielder this past summer but opted to spend money on several others instead of Rice.

According to Express UK, Manchester United could very well renew their interest in Declan Rice in January. This is what former Leeds and Middlesbrough striker Noel Whelan believes, stating that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could make a 90 million bid for the 20-year old in the new year.

Whelan, who is now a pundit on BBC radio, is an admirer of Rice’s talents and believes he could be a perfect fit for a United side who lack quality in the middle of the pitch, as he voiced in a recent radio show:

"“West Ham have got a really special player on their hands.“They will struggle to hold on to him, because the big clubs will be hot on his trail.“I think Declan Rice could be the next player who goes for a Premier League record fee.“We have just seen Harry Maguire go for £80million and I wouldn’t be surprised if Rice goes for more than that, above £90m, even.“He’s young, English, hugely talented and is such a long way from his peak.“You look at a team like Man Utd, who need a midfield anchorman and you can see it happening.“They don’t mind paying over the odds for a player, as we saw in the summer. I could see them looking to get Rice in January.”"

Now, this is based solely on the opinion of Whelan, who isn’t necessarily wrong. But West Ham is now a club who pay their players’ fairly big wages and Rice hasn’t even played a very long time in the Premier League, making his debut in 2017. I’m sure his goal is to play for a big club and win trophies, but that won’t be the case at Manchester United as of right now. They have been struggling immensely as of late and it would take a miracle for them to win the Premier League this year, let alone any other notable trophy.

He is still very young at just 20-years old and is getting his feet wet with West Ham at this level. I personally believe it would make more sense for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to wait and see how Rice plays this season, then go after him next summer. He would be a great addition at Old Trafford there is no doubt about it, but waiting until the summer transfer window could make more sense.

I can almost guarantee the Hammers won’t be keen on giving up Rice either, considering his importance to this team. But who knows what the future could hold. I’m sure West Ham understands that he eventually wants to play for one of the bigger clubs in the world, but I personally don’t believe it will happen in January.

If United can somehow pull off a deal for him that soon, then all the power to them. But it just seems unlikely right now though considering how invested Rice is in playing at West Ham and how much everyone loves him around the club.