Chelsea are facing huge competition to sign West Ham midfielder Declan Rice in the summer transfer window with Manchester United reportedly plotting a huge spending spree to welcome Erik Ten Hag to Old Trafford.
Ten Hag is now the firm favourite to become Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's permanent successor for United, with the Ajax boss deemed to be a better fit to the current structure in place at the club. Mauricio Pochettino was also strongly linked with the role but it appears a consensus has been reached among the board.
Ralf Rangnick has enjoyed little success during his interim role with the Red Devils and is set to step into a consultancy position at the end of the current campaign. That is set to coincide with a hefty summer spending spree with Rice and Tottenham striker Harry Kane among the club's top targets, according to a report from The Telegraph.
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Rice is a boyhood Chelsea fan and even played in the Blues academy before being released as a teenager. He was snapped up by West Ham and has grown to become one of Europe's most exciting midfield talents. Thomas Tuchel is eager to strengthen his midfield options this summer but West Ham have insisted that any deal for the midfielder will cost upwards of £100 million, however.
Both United and Manchester City have also been linked with the 22-year-old, while the arch-rivals each admire Kane. Last summer saw Tottenham demand £150 million for the striker's signature.
The report reads: "Harry Kane, Tottenham and England striker, and his international team-mate, Declan Rice, the West Ham defensive midfielder, are among the most ambitious and costly targets on United’s radar and there is an acceptance at the club that either deal could be very difficult to do. John McGinn, the Aston Villa and Scotland midfielder, is another player of interest to United."
