West Ham chairman: Rice set to leave club

LONDON (AP) — England midfielder Declan Rice looks to have played his final match for West Ham.

Rice, who captained West Ham in its victory over Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday, has been promised he can leave the club and wants to go, chairman David Sullivan said.

“You can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to be there,” Sullivan told British radio station Talksport on Thursday.

Rice has been linked with some of Europe’s top teams, including Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

“It’s not something we want to happen,” Sullivan said. “We offered him 200,000 pounds ($250,000) a week 18 months ago. He turned it down."

The 24-year-old Rice has played for West Ham since 2017. He said after Wednesday’s final that “it’s not a goodbye yet.”

“Obviously there’s loads of speculation but nothing’s happened,” Rice said. “I’m a West Ham player, I’ve got two years left on my contract. I love every minute of it.”

Sullivan said West Ham has yet to receive an offer.

“But I think the offers will start to come today,” Sullivan said. “There are three or four clubs who have shown interest, but out of respect to West Ham, while we’re still playing, you don’t make offers for players.”

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