Declan Rice has been linked with an exit from West Ham (Getty Images)
According to the Sky Sports, Chelsea are interested in signing West Ham midfielder Declan Rice this summer.
Declan Rice, 21, came through Chelsea’s academy before leaving West London aged just 15 and joining West Ham. The defensive midfielder has starred for the Hammers, breaking into the England side on numerous occasions despite initially representing Ireland. He has also clocked up 100 appearances for the East London outfit.
Rice has been a regular fixture for West Ham and bagged two assists in 29 Premier League appearances before football was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic. Even if he has four years left on his contract, Chelsea must look to sign the West Ham star.
The Blues were unable to sign players last summer, which forced Frank Lampard to utilize the club’s youth players. The transfer ban was uplifted in January, yet they failed to make any signings. Despite not signing any players in the last two transfer windows, Frank Lampard deserves plaudits for helping Chelsea break into the top four.
He has given plenty of opportunities to youngsters, with academy products such as Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Reece James enjoying their breakthrough campaign.
With Chelsea board already completing the signing of Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, Lampard should shift his focus towards strengthening the midfield department.
Jorginho has been a consistent performer in midfield under Lampard but the Italian international has lacked a reliable presence beside him. N’Golo Kante has been hit with injuries this season, while Ross Barkley and Mateo Kovacic have blown hot and cold.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek is yet to feature for the West Londoners this season, having been out since May with a ruptured Achilles. Thus, this makes the signing of a midfielder very important for the west Londoners and Lampard should do look to recruit Declan Rice.
Rice has been a consistent performer for West Ham over the last two campaigns. Since breaking into West Ham’s senior team in the 2017/18 campaign, he hasn’t looked back and has also established himself in Gareth Southgate’s England team. At a tender age of 21, the seven-cap England international has played over 100 times for West Ham and that itself is praiseworthy.
Primarily a defensive midfielder, Rice is also adept at operating at centre-back and has done so on many occasions for the Hammers. Such versatility could come handy for Lampard as that’ll allow the Chelsea tactician to use him as per the game’s requirement.
The England international would be able to strike a strong partnership with Jorginho in the Blues midfield, given he is able to replicate the good form.
If the 21-year-old continues to evolve and improve, he will undoubtedly reach the highest level in the game and prove himself to be a valuable long-term asset for Chelsea. Therefore, Lampard should do everything possible to sign Rice.
