David Moyes Insists Rumoured Liverpool Target Rice Isn’t for Sale

Liverpool need a midfielder or three. In the medium term, it’s probably closer to the three but as a shot term January transfer window thing just the one would probably do. At least that seems to be the consensus amongst the club’s fans, rivals, and pundits alike.

Whether or not the club will prove to have been on the same page as pretty much everyone on the outside when the January transfer window ends is, of course, another question. But pretty much everyone else agrees the Reds need a midfielder. One they won’t be getting is West Ham’s Declan Rice.

The 23-year-old England international has been more often linked with Chelsea and Arsenal, but he has been connected to Liverpool at times this season as a potential reinforcement for the holding midfield role. Manager David Moyes, though, says he’s going nowhere.

“The transfer bit I’m sure you can put away because that won’t be happening in January,” Moyes said following West Ham’s FA Cup victory over Brentford this past weekend when asked about rumours suggesting Rice could leave West Ham this month. “That’s for sure and it never was.

“I would have loved to have thought we could have wrapped Declan up and given him time [off following the World Cup] but he’s such a huge influence for the level of our game. He’s such an important player, but we’ve always tried to give him a good recovery time.

“I’d like to win the FA Cup if it’s possible and for me to have the best chance of doing that, I probably need to play Declan Rice. Maybe I was thinking of only giving him 20 minutes, 30 minutes, but he wants to play and he’s saying, ‘well I’d rather start.’ Even today, he drives the team on.”

Between West Ham and the World Cup, Rice has played 29 games and 2334 minutes this season, and while his future may lie away from West Ham, it appears the East London club will be counting on him in what is unexpectedly shaping up to be a relegation battle.