"We gave the promise last summer that if he gave us his all, we would let him leave the club." David Sullivan all but confirmed that Declan Rice would depart West Ham following their Europa Conference League win over Fiorentina on Wednesday night. Rice has been a loyal servant for the Hammers, but looks to have reached his ceiling at the London Stadium.
At 24 years of age, Rice looks ready for the next step in his career and a high-profile, big money move to Arsenal is on the cards. The concern for West Ham now is how best they replace the England international. Rice is crucial in the middle of the park for the number of roles he can carry out.
A more than capable ball winner, the Hammers captain is also able to bring possession forward to help drive the team on and turn defence into attack. As a result, there will be a huge gap to fill once he does swap east for, as expected, north London. They'll be able to command a huge fee for Rice, which is a consolation for David Moyes' side, and what is key is how they best reinvest in the squad.
Potential suitors will know the Hammers have money to burn in the market, so striking the right deal for the suitable Rice replacement is of the utmost importance. That, then, has brought West Ham to Amsterdam. Edson Alvarez was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea last summer, a move that failed to come to fruition with the Eredivisie powerhouse unwilling to lose both Ryan Gravenberch and the Mexican in the same window.
Yet Alvarez looks set for a summer exit after they finished outside of the top two in the Dutch top tier, and German side Borussia Dortmund have been credited with an interest in the 25-year-old. Only Dusan Tadic (7.75) earned a better WhoScored rating than Alvarez (7.34) of all Ajax players last season.
Even as the Dutch side missed out on Champions League football for the first time in 14 years, Alvarez's stock remains high, with a Premier League switch in the offing. Indeed, West Ham have since been linked with a move for Alvarez and if they can beat potential suitors to his services, then Moyes would have a handy Rice successor on the books.
A key aspect of Rice's game is his ability to win the ball back from opponents. West Ham recorded the third lowest possession average (41.4%) in the Premier League last season, so a player to carry out the defensive dirty work to ease pressure on the backline was key. As such, Rice averaged 2.2 tackles per 90 last season, a respectable return, while only Rodri (187) won possession in the midfield third more times than the Arsenal target (173) in England's top tier last term.
In addition, Rice won possession in the defensive third 140 times, that more than any other central midfielder and the fifth most overall. And even with Ajax's relative dominance compared to West Ham - the Dutch side ranked top for possession (66.7%) in the Eredivisie - Alvarez was still able to average more tackles per 90 (2.5) than Rice. That being said, Rice was dribbled past fewer times per 90 (0.5) than Alvarez (1.0), suggesting that the former was able to time his tackle better than the latter.
Of course, this can also be down to the dominance of their respective teams in their respective leagues. Ajax play a far more expansive game than West Ham, meaning there is more space for opponents to run into when they do manage to get on the ball and push forward. By comparison, space is at a premium when up against the Hammers, meaning it easier for Rice to cover the ground to win the ball.
Crucial for any player in the position the pair operate in for their respective sides is what they do next when they do win the ball. Given how much of the ball Ajax saw in the Eredivisie last season, it's hardly a shock that Alvarez managed for more passes per 90 (83.3) than Rice (57.3) but importantly is that they returned a relatively similar success rate, the former (88.9%) just edging the latter (88%).
Ajax's dominance is also part of the reason why Rice completed more dribbles per 90 (1) than Alvarez (0.6) with the latter not under as much pressure to get the ball away from his side's goal when he does win possession by comparison to the former.
Reported to be valued at around £30m, Alvarez could prove a handy pick up and leave West Ham with plenty of change to invest elsewhere. The Mexican seems tailormade for Premier League football and would go some way to easing Rice's move away from the London Stadium this summer.
