West Ham braced for Declan Rice bid from Chelsea – report
West Ham are bracing themselves for a Declan Rice bid from Chelsea in January, according to TalkSPORT’s Alex Crooks.
Rice was a high priority Chelsea target in the summer but a move never materialised as the Hammers placed a huge value on their star man’s head.
Chelsea remain undeterred however and Frank Lampard reportedly believes that Rice is one player who could drastically improve his side.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Crooks said, “One player Frank Lampard believes would massively improve his Chelsea team is Declan Rice.
“West Ham were surprised that Chelsea didn’t make a formal bid in the summer and they’re bracing themselves for that to happen, either now or at the end of the season.”
There is a growing expectation that Rice will return to the club that released him as a youth player and Hammers fans will be hoping that if he does move, he waits until the end of the season.
David Moyes would only have Tomas Soucek and Mark Noble as first-team centre midfielders if Rice leaves this month.
This means that the Irons would need to sign a replacement but with the price placed on Rice’s head, that shouldn’t be an issue.
The real problem would be replacing the talent of Rice in a side that he has regularly featured in for four seasons.
In many ways, Rice is the heart of this West Ham side and while it would be a blow to lose him at all, him leaving in the summer would leave the club in a much better position.
Chelsea may be forced into the transfer market following their awful run of league form which most recently saw them lose 3-1 to a depleted Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
If they move for Rice this month then it may be a deal that the board simply can’t afford to turn down with the coronavirus pandemic rumbling on.
Hopefully, Rice stays until at least the end of the season so the club has ample time to replace him if he does indeed leave.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers will battle Sam Allardyce for the services of a new defender this month.