In the same article from Jacob Steinberg that I mentioned in my last article about Mason Mount, the well connected journalist also revealed some information surrounding Declan Rice.
Jacob claims that Chelsea made an enquiry last summer under Thomas Tuchel for Rice but nothing was done as West Ham clearly did not want to sell.
Following on from this, he believes that “there is doubts over whether Chelsea are so fixated on him now” even though this summer he is expected to finally be sold.
Chelsea have looked elsewhere and there is a sense that the Blues do not want to break the bank for West Ham’s captain.
Chelsea do need a defensive midfielder and perhaps a top performance tomorrow against the club that released him from the academy at the age of 14 will convince Chelsea’s hierarchy to put him back on the top of the midfield list as the club search for an ideal long term partner next to Enzo Fernandez.
The major question is if Declan Rice actually wants to join Chelsea as bad as he did in the past. Arsenal have been mooted as a preferable destination in Rice’s head by some journalists.
There are better players out there for far cheaper. Rice’s issue is that he is not technically great and not able to control games. These are essential qualities if you play that position for a top team as they dominate most games. Glad to hear we’ve moved on from him.
Get us Sofiyan Amrabat instead