The £30m ideal Declan Rice replacement is staring West Ham in the face amid ex-Arsenal player links

It has the potential to be the stuff of comic book fantasy. On Wednesday evening, Declan Rice will captain West Ham United in a European final that could see the Hammers win their first continental trophy since 1965, and their first significant silverware of any kind since the 1980 FA Cup. It may also be his last game for the club.

We have spoken about Rice many, many, many times already this summer. The England international is one of the most sought after players in the Premier League at this present moment in time, and whether he ends up at Arsenal, or Bayern Munich, or somewhere else entirely, there is a looming sense of inevitability that his time in east London is rapidly approaching its end.

And that presents West Ham with an obvious problem. Losing Rice would not just be an issue of replacing a key player, but also a key presence. As good as the midfielder is in the centre of the park - and arguably there are few better than him in Europe right now - it is his undiminishable spirit, his understanding of what it means to blow bubbles in the famous claret and blue, that has helped to cement his status as a certified talisman of the modern era.

In another life, perhaps he stays and ends up with a stand named after him and a statue outside the ground. In this one, you fear that he bids a tearful farewell and goes off to battle for Champions League glory, like a provincial farmhand wandering off to the grand citadel over yonder horizon with a bindle full of aspirations to become a knight in the King’s guard.

Players like Rice don’t come around very often, and as such, accomodating his departure would take all kinds of careful, cerebral preparation and forethought. Or West Ham could chuck Matteo Guendouzi at the issue and see what happens.

The Sideshow Bob lookalike has stepped on a few rakes in his time. His stint with Arsenal - the one by which most fans of English football will recognise him - was pockmarked by inconsistency and fizzled out in hushed ignomy, and his subsequent loan spell with Hertha Berlin was haunted by the sense that he still lacked a certain level of requisite maturity.

In Marseille, however, Guendouzi has blossomed. His combative brand of tenacity has been tempered by a more measured streak, and his assuredness on the ball has proven to be a valuable asset for Igor Tudor’s side. Only Valentin Rongier recorded a higher pass completion rate than the 24-year-old at Stade Vélodrome this season, and his form was rewarded with a spot in France’s World Cup squad towards the back end of last year.

More recently, there has been talk of a £30m potential transfer this summer. West Ham have been touted as one possible destination, as have Aston Villa - although whispers persist that he could still look to stay put in Ligue 1 instead. At the time of writing, there have been no concrete bids, and no strong indications of his current inclination.

But if he is available in the coming months, and if there is truth in the Hammers’ apparent interest - and indeed, if Rice does actually leave - Guendouzi is an option that the West Ham board should seriously consider. The wiry-haired midfielder is a vastly different prospect to the player who promised so much to no real avail at Arsenal. The pieces of the jigsaw, so to speak, have finally started to slot into place.

Guendouzi is now a Champions League calibre talent who would not only provide ballast in the engine room, but who could also rival the creative output that Rice currently offers; over the course of this season, he registered one goal contribution more in six games fewer than the West Ham captain, and has averaged near enough the same number of key passes per 90 minutes.

His grit is faultless, his pedigree is obvious, and he is only just truly entering the prime of his career. In short, there is an awful lot to like here, if he can be persuaded of David Moyes’ project. And do you know what would surely go a long way towards legitimising the Hammers’ claim as a relevant presence in the Premier League - and continental football writ large? A European trophy.

Of course, not everything will hinge on Wednesday night’s result. It would be absurd to suggest that it did. But there is no getting away from the fact that a piece of silverware wouldn’t hurt in the slightest. And there is also a pleasing wholesomeness to it all.

Declan Rice could well play his final game for West Ham in Prague, and in doing so, not only does he have the chance to bow out on the ultimate zenith, but he could go some way towards helping his beloved side put themselves in the best possible position to convince and sign his ideal replacement.