David Moyes has told the Premier League big guns they missed the opportunity to sign Declan Rice for a bargain £100million last summer.
Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United are all understood to be admirers of the 23-year-old England midfielder, but Moyes says they will now have to dig a lot deeper to prise him away.
“You will need humongous money to get close,” said Moyes. “That’s what you would need to do. People can write all they like, but he’s here for certainly a few years.
“I said in the summer that I thought Declan Rice was £100million. That was the sales, that was cheap, that was your chance to get Declan Rice cheap. You can make your mind up about what I’m talking about.
“Is he committed? I feel it. He’s under contract and we’re really pleased to have him. He’s like a special edition, Declan Rice, there’s not many like him.
“For me, he’s arguably playing as well as any midfielder in European football, and the prices were really expensive in January, weren’t they?”
Rice is set to be named in a strong side Hammers side for the FA Cup trip to face National League North Kidderminster, the lowest-ranked side left in the competition.
Aggborough brought back a painful cup memory for Moyes – eventually – as he was playing in the Preston side beaten there in the fourth round 28 years ago.
“So people tell me, but I hardly remember it,” admitted the Scot. “But when I looked into it the only difference is that Kidderminster were doing really well in the Conference and I think we were in the bottom tier, so maybe not as big a surprise as it’s made out.
“But when non-league teams beat league sides it is always seen as a shock, so we have to make sure that isn’t the case here.”
