Declan Rice will be permitted to leave West Ham this summer, according to chairman David Sullivan, who anticipates offers to start coming in right away.
After leading the team to victory in the Europa Conference League, the England midfielder admitted he was unsure of whether he had played his final match for the organization.
He joined Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds as the only other Hammers captains to win a major trophy with a 2-1 triumph over Fiorentina in the final on Wednesday night.
Sullivan acknowledges, however, that due to a gentleman's agreement, they will permit a player to leave after the first year of his two-year deal (plus an option).
When asked if Rice's final act as a West Ham player was hoisting the trophy in Prague, Sullivan responded to talkSPORT, "I think it has to be. We told him he could leave.He made the decision to leave, and when the time comes, he must do so, forcing us to find a replacement.
We did not intend for that to occur. He rejected our offer of £200,000 per week that we made to him 18 months ago. A player who doesn't want to be there can't be kept.I anticipate that today will see the first offers. Three or four teams have expressed interest, but out of respect for West Ham, you don't make bids for players while we're still competing.
"Look, at the moment, there's a lot of speculation about my future," he continued on BT Sport.Although other teams have expressed interest in me, I still have two years left at West Ham.There haven't been any offers as of yet. We'll just have to wait and see.You can see by the smile on my face that I enjoy every second of being here.
"Tonight is about celebrating, not that, and that's what I'm going to do right now."
Sullivan added that despite a difficult season coming to a successful conclusion, there were no plans to fire manager David Moyes.
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