DEAL DONE: Crisis averted as Declan Rice inks new deal

A potential crisis has been averted in East London as West Ham starlet Declan Rice has signed a five year contract with the Hammers.

The 20-year-old Ireland (maybe England) midfielder (and defender) signed his much awaited deal three days after Santa Claus made his rounds. Hammers fans can breath a sigh of relief as the contract stand-off is over.

Rice joined the Hammers at 14 and has become the first name on the team-sheet over the past two seasons. His calm demeanor has been a steadying force for a defense that has struggled for the past three years.

Rice told the official club site “Without a doubt, the plan was always to stay at West Ham. I’ve had the support from the fans, from the players and from the manager and now, to get it done and commit myself to this Club is a very special moment and I’m over the moon.

“I’ve now played 50 games for the first team and I’m progressing week-in, week-out, learning from a top manager and top players. I’m still young, so to put more years on my contract and keep developing here is the best thing for me to do now. With the support of the manager, the players, everyone, it was the right thing to do.”

Rice’s deal should put an end to speculation that he would leave this coming summer as big clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City had been sniffing around.

It’s a great day for West Ham to sign a young star to a long term deal and keep around a potential captain around.

David Sullivan was as happy as a boy on Christmas telling the official site, “Signing Declan to a new long-term contract is something we have been planning for and working round the clock on and I, the Board, the manager and Declan himself are all very happy that everything has now been completed,” he said.

With that sorted out we can look forward to a rather quiet January window and rest assured that our Declan Rice jersey’s wont’ be out of date for a while.