James Wood

Thu 25 March 2021 21:00, UK

Andy Goldstein says West Ham stand-in skipper Declan Rice will end up playing for Chelsea at some point in his career.

The 22-year-old was let go by the Blues and joined the Hammers as a schoolboy. He came through the ranks in east London and has gone on to be a regular for England.

Speaking on talkSPORT on Thursday [17.50 pm], Goldstein claimed that West Ham will struggle to keep hold of their prized asset due to their success this season.

He said: “I think it’s going to be a big problem for West Ham actually.

“The higher up the table they go, the more of a problem it’s going to be to hold on to Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice.

‘I’d say he (Rice) goes for £70million-plus. I’d imagine Declan Rice has had a chance or two to move away from West Ham, and for whatever reason, it’s not happened yet.

“I don’t expect him to be there for the rest of his career. I personally think he’s going to end up at Chelsea. He’s got connections there and he knows Mason Mount incredibly well.”

Anyone but them

It genuinely would be heartbreaking to see Rice go back to Chelsea. The club he loved as a boy, that gave up on him as a schoolboy. West Ham have been so good to Rice, he’s the best player to come out of the academy for years.

The rumours have seemed to quieten down with the departure of Frank Lampard. But this is a transfer story that will probably never go away. What an achievement it would be for Rice to lead us to the Champions League and finish above Chelsea.

A player of Rice’s quality is always going to be linked with a move away from the London Stadium. We should, however, get at least one more season out of him. With the Covid pandemic, not many clubs would be willing to meet our valuation of the skipper, which is said to be over £100million.

Hopefully, he can continue his excellent season into the next. Maybe, he’ll even win some silverware with England at the Euros this summer.

In other West Ham news, should the Hammers go for Ivan Toney or Adam Armstrong this summer?