West Ham offer Declan Rice around £15,000-a-week to sign new long term deal as he only gets about £3,000-a-week at present

WEST HAM have offered rising star Declan Rice around £15,000-a-week to sign a new long-term contract.

That is less than a quarter of what some of his fellow defenders at the club pocket in their lucrative deals.

Teenager Rice, 19, is regarded as the best young player at the club and has emerged through the ranks at West Ham since joining them after being released by Chelsea at the age of 15.

At present he is paid in the region of £3,000-a-week and has a deal which expires in 2020.

However, the club do hold an option to extend it for a further year.

While the pay rise on offer from West Ham represents a 400 per cent increase on his current wage it still falls way short of what they shell out on players who have only just joined.

Some defenders like Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop only signed in the summer and are paid much more.

Talks about a new deal have ground to a halt with no formal negotiations having taken place for months.

It has left the fans who voted Rice Young Hammer of the Year last season for the second successive year, frightened they could lose their most promising and home grown players for years.

Bigger clubs are already showing an interest in the versatile youngster and despite playing for Ireland, England have been courting Surrey-born Rice in recent months, to underline his blossoming talent.

Rice is normally a centre half but has played out of position in midfield in the last two games.

He was recalled to the side following the injury sustained by Jack Wilshere.

His return coincided with an end to a four game losing streak with a victory over Everton and a draw against Chelsea yesterday.