Declan Rice is one of the better midfielders in the English Premier League. (imago Images)
According to transfer news from Daily Star, Chelsea have been knocked back in their pursuit of Declan Rice. It has been claimed by former West Ham forward Frank McAvennie that Rice might be enjoying his time at West Ham and would not want to leave for a club of superstars such as Chelsea.
The 22-year-old was a top target for Chelsea under Frank Lampard during his time at Stamford Bridge. Since the arrival of Tuchel, transfer interest in the West Ham midfielder cooled down. The German manager made it work with the players he had at his disposal to get Chelsea to a Champions League trophy.
Nonetheless, Rice is still of interest to the Blues as they look to bolster the squad for next season. Chelsea might have a good crop of midfielders but it never hurts to go after players who can improve the side further.
However, Chelsea might not be able to get their hands on Rice. Given the star-studded line-up Chelsea boast of Frank McAvennie feels that Rice might snub a move to remain at West Ham.
“Declan looks like he’s enjoying himself. They’re a close-knit bunch of players and I don’t think Declan would want to leave to go to Chelsea where he’s not a big fish. He’s a big fish in this team, he’s the main man but at Chelsea, he wouldn’t be the main man, he’d be down the pecking order with so-called superstars [ahead of him].”
It does come as a bit of a knockback given Chelsea have followed the English midfielder for a while now. However, McAvennie does have a valid point in Rice choosing to stay back. Quite what Chelsea do now is not known but it is unlikely they will drop their interest in the highly-rated West Ham man.
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