Declan Rice responds to ongoing transfer interest
Declan Rice has insisted that his 'main focus' is playing for West Ham United amid ongoing interest from some of Europe's top clubs.
The dynamic midfielder has been heavily linked with a number of teams ahead of the summer transfer window, and 90min recently reported that Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City all retain an interest in the player.
Sources have confirmed that new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino would be particularly keen to bring Rice into his squad ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Speaking to Sky Sports, however, the England international has insisted that he is not thinking about the rumours circulating regarding his future: "I've not really focused on any of that, to be honest.
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“My main focus this season, from the World Cup onwards, has been getting us out of a relegation battle and, of course, having one eye on winning this trophy.
"Everything else is just noise and speculation. Obviously, I can't help that, it comes with playing. But my main focus is playing for West Ham and winning this [Europa Conference League] final.
"My heart's set on that, doing it for the club, my family, for the fans and that’s my only focus. I want to make them all very happy and my focus is on doing that."
The Hammers are scheduled to face off against Serie A side Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday 7 June. It will be West Ham's first European final since 1976 when they lost to Anderlecht in the Cup Winners' Cup. The club previously won that competition in 1965.
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On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Alexis Mac Allister, Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema, William Saliba, Manuel Ugarte, Joao Felix, Spurs' manager search and more! If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!