Sublime Declan Rice replacement emerges for West Ham as Moyes backed to succeed where Chelsea failed with swoop

West Ham could bring in a top successor to Declan Rice in midfield after their main rivals reportedly pulled out of the race for him.

West Ham told Rice he could leave following the club’s triumph in the Europa Conference League. The England ace rejected numerous contract offers from the club as he wants to test himself at the highest level.

Despite previously being wanted by Chelsea and Manchester United, Arsenal soon emerged as the frontrunners to land Rice. They submitted bids worth £80million and then £90m, but both of these were rejected as they did not meet West Ham’s demands. The Irons would only let Rice go if a proposal worth £100m or more arrived.

Arsenal’s struggles to agree a deal with West Ham allowed Manchester City to get involved. They came in with their own bid worth £90m, though this was also pushed back by West Ham.

Arsenal have now managed to strike an agreement with West Ham after upping their offer to £100m, plus £5m in add-ons.

Rice is poised to become the most expensive British player of all time, nudging City winger Jack Grealish off top spot.

READ MORE: Second deal between Arsenal and West Ham coming, with common ground found over unlikely goal machine

West Ham, meanwhile, must now try to bring in at least one or two midfielders to replace Rice’s influence.

They have looked into signing Kalvin Phillips and James Ward-Prowse previously. But Phillips wants to remain at City and Southampton have given Ward-Prowse a whopping £52m valuation, despite their relegation.

West Ham in for Eredivisie star

West Ham have made contact with Fulham to see if they would be open to selling Joao Palhinha, but the Cottagers are determined to keep him and have put a £90m price tag on his head.

Due to this, West Ham have instead begun eyeing up Everton’s Amadou Onana and Denis Zakaria of Juventus. As per the latest information from Fabrizio Romano, West Ham are waiting to discover Juve’s asking price for Zakaria before launching a move.

Alternatively, the East London outfit may go all out to sign Edson Alvarez from Ajax. According to an update from Dutch source Voetbal International, West Ham have been eager to sign Alvarez ‘for some time’ but have been under the impression he would head to Borussia Dortmund.

The Bundesliga side have been in advanced talks with Ajax to sign the Mexican and have even agreed personal terms with him.

However, on Thursday it emerged that the transfer would not be reaching completion. Dortmund have decided to pull out of the negotiations due to them not wanting to meet Ajax’s €40m (£34.3m) asking price.

This ‘surprising turn’ has given West Ham a brilliant opportunity to finally land Alvarez. They will have no problem meeting Ajax’s demands due to the big money they will get from Rice’s departure.

The fact Alvarez was being hunted by Dortmund shows he has the ability to be a top-class replacement for Rice.

The 25-year-old could have moved to the Premier League last summer as Chelsea launched a €50m (£43.2m) offer for him. But after selling important players such as Antony and Lisandro Martinez, Ajax did not want to let Alvarez go too and therefore reject Chelsea’s bid.

Meanwhile, Fabrizio Romano has detailed how Arsenal unlocked the £105m deal to sign Rice.