DECLAN RICE will leave West Ham this summer – and his desire to win trophies needs to be respected, according to Tony Cottee.
The Hammers are bracing themselves for an almighty transfer saga as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United prepare bids to snap up the 24-year-old England star.
Rice’s contract expires at the end of the season, with West Ham having the option to extend that by a further 12 months.
However, many inside the East London club are resigned to the fact this will be his final campaign, with boss David Moyes hoping to bring in over £100m for his services.
Cottee, 57, knows what it is like to leave West Ham in search of silverware, doing just that in 1988 – ending a six-year stint with his boyhood club to join Everton.
The closest he came to lifting a trophy with the Toffees was in the 1989 FA Cup final, losing out to rivals Liverpool, before returning to West Ham in 1994.
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And Cottee told SunSport: “It is different with the likes of Declan or myself. The reason I left the club, and I didn’t want to but I felt I had to because I wanted to go and win something.
“When you don’t win things, it is hard, and the money side is not easy either.
“If West Ham had a successful team that was winning things, Declan wouldn’t be leaving. There would be no reason to leave.
“He will leave this summer. I said all along that the moment they lost to Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-final last season was the moment Declan knew he needed to leave.
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“If they had won that and won the Europa League and got into the Champions League, why would he leave?
“Now we are at the stage where Rice is in the prime of his career and wants to play Champions League football.
“As long as his exit is handled correctly, and I think it will be because he is a really good lad leading in the right way, I don’t think any West Ham fan would begrudge him.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
