Declan Rice signs new West Ham deal worth £30,000-a-week to end City interest
Manchester United, Man City and Chelsea have all been tracking 19-year-old midfielder but Hammers have reacted by handing Rice monster pay rise from £3k-a-week current contract
DECLAN RICE has signed a new £30,000-a-week deal as West Ham finally cough up to keep their brilliant young star out of the clutches of Manchester City.
Rice, 19, has emerged as one of the best rising talents in the country having established himself as a holding midfielder under Manuel Pellegrini this season.
But until now West Ham had refused to hand him the kind of deal that rewarded his status in the game and left him earning the relative peanuts of just £3,000-a-week.
Rice's displays in the Premier League this season had led to City boss Pep Guardiola taking a keen interest as he looks for a long-term replacement for Fernandinho in his squad.
Manchester United and Chelsea had also been tracking his progress, encouraged by the reluctance of the Hammers to give him the long-term deal he deserved.
Until now they had not been prepared to offer more than £15,000-a-week to Rice,who is now at the centre of a scrap for his international services between England and Republic of Ireland.
But having played such a key role in helping the club climb up to ninth in the table on the back of five wins in sic matches, the club have finally decided to act.
The realised they could not risk losing one of the brightest young players to a top flight rival just because they were not prepared to meet his relatively small wage demands.
Now he has put pen to paper on the new six year deal running until the end of the 2023-24 season - with the option of a further year.
England boss Gareth Southgate is desperate to get Rice to commit his international allegiance to the Three Lions, even though he has already played senior friendlies for Ireland.
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The product of the West Ham youth system has gained rave reviews for his calm and assured play in such a key area of the field, amid calls for him to be handed an England call-up in 2019.
Rice was one of West Ham's best players last night as he helped drive the side on to come from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 - their fifth win of the month.
He said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have got the contract done, signed and to commit my future to the Club until 2024. I’m absolutely ecstatic”.
“Without a doubt, the plan was always to stay at West Ham. I’ve had the support from the fans, from the players and from the manager and now, to get it done and commit myself to this Club is a very special moment and I’m over the moon.
“I’ve now played 50 games for the first team and I’m progressing week-in, week-out, learning from a top manager and top players.
"I’m still young, so to put more years on my contract and keep developing here is the best thing for me to do now. With the support of the manager, the players, everyone, it was the right thing to do.”