Moyes insists West Ham have ‘no intention’ of selling Rice

West Ham boss David Moyes says he is relaxed about Declan Rice’s future despite reports that he has turned down the offer of a new contract with the club.

Chelsea continue to be linked with a move for Rice, who played for the club’s academy until being released at the age of 14 .

Moyes would not confirm whether Rice has turned down a new deal to stay in east London but insisted it is not uncommon for players to do so.

“Maybe he just wants more money. People do turn down contracts. It’s not unusual for players at clubs to turn down contracts – maybe it’s a negotiation tactic,” Moyes said.

“I don’t know who put it out publicly, because we certainly didn’t. So unless you’ve got who put it out or who said it, I couldn’t really answer it.

“We like Dec and we’ve still got three and a half years to go on his contract, so I don’t think there’s any big panic. But we’ve said before that we’ve got no intention of selling.

“We’ve got him for three and a half years so it’s (a new contract) not the biggest priority. We’ve got other priorities like probably trying to add to the squad and get other positions in.”