I win the Conference and escape to the Champions League: this is the plan of Declan Rice, captain of West Ham wanted by all of Europe

PRAGUE. Almost all the big Europeans, except those who consider themselves already covered in the role, want it. And they are ready to write a check close to triple digits to ease the suffering of West Ham. First Declan Rice, arguably the best low-half in the world or so, wants to say goodbye to East London, his lair since he was snatched away by Chelsea’s youth academy at 14, with the bang of a trophy and a place in the ‘immortality. In Prague, invaded by almost 20 thousand “hammers” chasing the second continental title, the boy from Kingston Upon Thames, a suburb on the banks of the Thames south of London, can equal the legend Bobby Moore: so far the first and only West Ham captain to lift a European cup, the 1965 Cup Winners’ Cup won on the skin of Monaco 1860. And he can reopen a bulletin board sealed from 1980, the year of the last Fa Cup won with the captain’s armband on the arm of the other icon Billy Bonds.

Like Rice, in the event of Fiorentina’s scalp, no one ever. The full-time midfielder also in Southgate’s England would be the exception to the rule of the many talents bred by West Ham but successful elsewhere: Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Jermain Defoe, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Glen Johnson, all young ” Hammers” who became champions by wearing other (hated) jerseys. There is no better parting gift, both for Declan and for the club, than the Conference League, the perfect culmination of a growth journey that began with sixth place in the 2020/2021 Premier League, the semi-final in the last Europa League (with previous elimination of Sevilla specialists in the competition) and relegation to the Championship avoided with a growing championship final. «I want to go and play in the Champions League», the outing, at the age of 24, of one of the prized players of the next transfer market. This time West Ham, also considering a contract expiring in a year, will not oppose.

The list price is 100 million, not too negotiable. Bayern Munich has been moving for a while and it would also be the best solution, or at least the least painful for the “claret & blue” people: the doubts of the boy and his family would still have to be overcome before a move to Germany. Arsenal, looking for a replacement for Xhaka (promised to Bayer Leverkusen), remains on track, as well as Manchester United, who have returned to the Europe that counts. Before packing his bags though, Declan Rice wants to become a perennial West Ham icon, Fiorentina permitting. The first fruit of the nursery, in the last forty-odd years, to blossom into the captain of a trophy. It doesn’t happen every day in the East End.