Chelsea have been linked with a move for West Ham United and England midfielder, Declan Rice. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Speaking to the media (h/t Mirror), West Ham United midfielder and Chelsea target Declan Rice has issued a ‘come and get me plea’ as he made it clear that he wants to play in the Champions League.
Rice has stamped down on wanting to challenge for the biggest trophies and his desire to play Champions League football has been alive for the last two or three years.
The England international, who is currently representing his nation in the World Cup in Qatar, has been linked with a host of clubs in the Premier League, including Chelsea. It is clear he can’t fulfil some of his ambitions with the Hammers unless something drastic happens there.
The Hammers have never won the first division title and have never played in the UEFA Champions League.
Here’s what the 23-year-old said about his ambitions going forward (h/t Mirror):
“Yeah – one hundred per cent I want to play in the Champions League. For the last two or three years I’ve been saying that. I’ve been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing.”
“I see my friends here, who are playing Champions League and competing for big trophies. You only get one career and at the end of it you want to look back at what you’ve won and the biggest games you’ve played in. I really want to do that.”
Rice’s contract with West Ham expires in the summer of 2024, but with an option to extend that by a year (Transfermarkt). Back in May, Sky Sports reported that the midfielder rejected an eight-year contract worth £200,00-a-week offered by the Hammers to keep him at the club for the foreseeable future.
The 23-year-old is a Chelsea academy product who moved to east London in 2013. Since then, he has grown up and matured his game to a level that everybody wants him in their team. Football.London, quotes from Fabrizio Romano, states that West Ham would demand something in the region of €150m to let the clubs take him away from them.
Whether these types of quotes would soften the stance of the Hammers when a club approaches them remains to be seen. What it does is give clubs like Chelsea an opportunity to make the player more inclined towards leaving the London Stadium as soon as possible.
We all are aware of the fact that the Blues need additions in the central midfield department. The futures of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho are in grave doubt after their contracts are due to expire in the summer and no extension has been agreed upon yet.
Star player Mason Mount, whose contract expires in the summer of 2024 (Transfermarkt), recently rejected a new contract as he wants positional assurances. We know he is best friends with Rice.
So, Chelsea can sign Rice, a high-quality midfielder, to improve their central midfield, and also use the ‘Rice card’ when they start negotiating with Mount next for his contract extension.
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