Revealed: Declan Rice gave up £10m in wages to stay at West Ham for one more season but now wants to go

• Rice wanted to leave last summer
• West Ham held on to the player and proposed a new deal
• Offered £200,000-a-week in January 2022 but Rice rejected it

WHAT HAPPENED? The England international will finally get to leave West Ham, as confirmed by Sullivan, and could not have asked for a better swansong as he lifted the Europa Conference League trophy by beating Fiorentina in Prague in what seems to be his last match in a Hammers' shirt. However, if he had his way he would have left London Stadium a year ago but stayed put on his decision upon the request of the club management. Sullivan revealed that Rice turned down a £200,000-a-week proposal to further extend his contract beyond 2024 and ended up losing £10m!

WHAT THEY SAID: "It's not something we want to happen (letting Rice leave). We offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago. He turned it down. It's cost him £10m to stay at West Ham in that time (in lost wages). And he wants to go. You can't keep a player who doesn't want to be there," Sullivan told talkSPORT.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: It has been reported that Arsenal are preparing a £90m ($112m) deal for Rice as they are eager to beat Manchester United in the race. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich also hold an active interest in the player as Thomas Tuchel rates him highly. However, Sullivan informed that while none of the clubs have submitted a formal offer, they would start pouring in as West Ham have officially completed their season.

"No. But I think the offers will start to come today. There are three or four clubs who have shown interest, but out of respect to West Ham, while we're still playing, you don't make offers for players. That's not the way decent clubs do things," he stated.

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WHAT NEXT? The summer transfer window will officially open on June 14 and the speculation around Rice's future will certainly heat up as we go deeper in the summer.