West Ham United are fighting hard to keep hold of Declan Rice.
The Sun says Chelsea were desperate to sign the 21-year-old this summer but gave up without lodging a formal bid after the Hammers made it clear they wanted at least £80million for the midfielder.
Yet having retained the services of the player and made it clear he was their prized asset, West Ham now need to reward him with a contract that recognises his standing as the best player at London Stadium.
Rice is two years into a five-and-a-half-year contract, which saw him move from £3,000-a-week up to £60,000-a-week — a package co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold initially baulked at paying.
That deal is only 50 per cent the salary Felipe Anderson was on before his loan move to Porto this week, while Andriy Yarmolenko is on just over £100,000-a-week.
And should the Hammers succeed in their efforts to sign striker Josh King from Bournemouth he would also become one of the biggest earners at the club.
