EPL: Why Declan Rice Didn’t Join Man Utd – Ten Hag Opens Up

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has revealed that the club attempted to sign England midfielder Declan Rice during his time at Old Trafford.

Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Ten Hag explained that West Ham United were unwilling to sell Rice to their Premier League rivals, making a potential transfer difficult.

Rice eventually joined Arsenal in the summer of 2023 in a club-record £105 million deal, becoming a key addition to Mikel Arteta’s squad.

Ten Hag has now expressed regret over Manchester United’s failure to push harder to secure the midfielder’s signature during the transfer negotiations.

“We wanted Declan Rice at United but the issue was that West Ham didn’t want to let him go,” Ten Hag said.

The Dutch manager also acknowledged that United could have made greater efforts to explore the possibility of completing the deal, despite West Ham’s reluctance to part with their captain.

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“I think we could have done more to test the waters,” he added, suggesting that a more determined approach might have helped United assess whether a transfer was possible.