West Ham may have 'really exciting midfield duo' next season

Journalist Pete O’Rourke thinks Youri Tielemans and Declan Rice would work well together if they become teammates at West Ham this summer.

Tielemans is currently plying his trade at Leicester but his future is far from certain heading into the final third of the season, with a number of clubs believed to be monitoring the midfielder.

The 24-year-old has reportedly opted against signing a new deal with the Foxes, and his contract is set to run out in 2023.

This appears to have put potential suitors on alert as the Belgium international has been linked with no fewer than five Premier League clubs.

According to 90min, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham are all interested in landing Tielemans.

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O’Rourke thinks Tielemans could form a formidable partnership with Rice in the middle of the park if the pair play together at West Ham next season, but admitted there is a lot of work to be done for the Hammers to pull this off.

When asked about the prospect of Tielemans and Rice lining up alongside one another, O’Rourke told GIVEMESPORT: “That would be a really exciting midfield duo if they could get Youri Tielemans and Declan Rice but there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge for that to happen.”

Right now, it seems unlikely.

West Ham have a huge fight on their hands just to keep hold of Rice as both Manchester clubs and Chelsea have been linked with the England star.

Meanwhile, the competition for Tielemans’ signature could be even fiercer as clubs line up to sign the Leicester man.

A more realistic scenario could be that they look to replace Rice with Tielemans, if the former does opt to leave the Irons at the end of the season.