Declan Rice may well be one who got away from Man United but the club’s approach to strengthening their midfield highlights unconditional backing of Erik ten Hag.
A stopped clock is right twice a day and Manchester United got it right ending last summer with Casemiro when they had started it by discussing Kalvin Phillips.
Phillips, the Jonathan Greening of City’s Treble-winning squad, started four times out of a possible 61 games following his £45million transfer from Leeds.
Murtough and Ten Hag at Old Trafford
Alexis Sanchez, Fred, Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo all had their heads turned and changed course from the Etihad to Old Trafford. It has happened so often and ended so abruptly or acrimoniously for United you have to wonder if City did it strategically.
City do not stand still. Mateo Kovacic has replaced Ilkay Gundogan before his contract has been shredded and they are reputedly now open to depriving Arsenal of their prime target.
Declan Rice was never going to be short of offers and West Ham have had due notice that Rice would not be forever blowing bubbles. A return to Chelsea long seemed inevitable until they ended last season with a manager sacked by Everton in January.
United are damned if they do and damned if they don’t with Rice. He has been of interest to them since Jose Mourinho’s time, back when Rice was transitioning from centre-back to central midfielder.
Two years ago, Rice approached Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw about the perks of playing for United on England duty. Only last month, Rice told talkSPORT, “when you play against Manchester United you really want to play well because they’re the biggest club in the world. Everyone watches Man United and you want to stand out. That’s what I try to do every game.”
It is not exactly Paul Ince posing in a United shirt at the West Ham training ground but eyelashes were fluttered. Yet it is Rice’s mate, Mason Mount, United have made a beeline for.
Rice or Mount? There could be a near-even split if United season ticket holders were polled. Rice has the s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 set to morph from a sitter into a hitter, as Yaya Toure did at Manchester City. Mount was likened to Frenkie de Jong during his gap year in the Netherlands and Erik ten Hag spent almost all of last summer waiting to reunite with De Jong.
Ten Hag has earned that backing and United are not as fixated on targets developed in the Netherlands as they were last year.
Three Lions rated by the Devils
Already there is cause to lament Rice as one that (probably) got away. Imagine if he was deemed as essential as Jadon Sancho or Raphael Varane in the summer of 2021; a young, specialist defensive midfielder might have been the difference between the sack or success for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The stars have never aligned for United and Rice, whom they enquired about last year. United’s lowly stock in the market prevented moves for elite England internationals back then. That is not the case this summer.
West Ham value Rice at £100million. United have offered half that for Mount. The prospect of them muscling in on an auction consisting of the Premier League’s top two clubs is fanciful.
Thrifty or nifty? Mount is more aligned with Ten Hag and the manager’s call is final. Some United fans will still lament the parsimony of the Glazer family’s occupation and continue to pine for state ownership. United are yet to announce a new signing after the squad punched above its weight to finish third in the Premier League table.
Be careful what you wish for. Pep Guardiola has assembled two squads of centurions – of 100 points and 115 financial charges. Phillips had not played 115 Premier League minutes before it was won in May.
Source: manchestereveningnews
