West Ham 'won't be able to demand’ £150m for Declan Rice

West Ham United are ‘not going to be able to demand’ a top price for star midfielder Declan Rice the longer his contract starts winding down, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The 23-year-old has been heavily linked with a move away from the London Stadium for quite some time now after establishing himself as one of the Premier League’s top performers.

According to the Daily Mail, West Ham are now set to demand a British-record £150 million fee for Rice after accepting defeat in their attempts to tie him down to a new deal.

The England international has just over two years remaining on his current contract, but with the club having the option to extend that by a further 12 months, they are in a strong negotiating position at this moment in time.

Last March, Hammers manager David Moyes insisted that Rice is worth ‘far, far more than £100m’ as he continued to put in dominant displays for both club and country.

However, the Scottish tactician has now claimed that the engine room operator’s stock has risen even further, indicating that the West Ham hierarchy aren’t going to let their prized asset depart in a cut-price deal.

“There was a bargain to be got with Declan at £100m,” Moyes said. “That bargain is now gone.”

The Telegraph revealed last summer that Rice had rejected two new contract offers, and it seems as though the east London outfit have now given up hope of tying him down to fresh terms.

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And O’Rourke believes that means West Ham may have to offload him sooner rather than later if they want to receive the sort of fees that they have publicly claimed Rice is worth.

He told GiveMeSport: “The longer he doesn’t sign this