West Ham United breakthrough on Amadou Onana could trigger Declan Rice bid from Chelsea
Chelsea could “chance their arm” with a bid for West Ham captain Declan Rice after the latest Amadou Onana news, according to talkSPORT’s Alex Crook.
The Hammers made a major breakthrough in their pursuit of the young Belgian sensation, agreeing a fee with Lille of €40million including bonuses [Jacob Steinberg & Saber Desfarges].
That immediately lead to speculation that the club might be preparing for the departure of star man Rice, since they play in the same area of the midfield, and while he doesn’t believe it will be this summer unless the erratic business at Stamford Bridge shifts towards the London Stadium, Crook feels that is likely the case.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Wednesday morning (3 August, 11.29am) Crook said of Rice leaving: “I don’t think he is this summer… it’s going to take a massive bid.
“I think Chelsea might chance their arm based on what I’ve already said about their scattergun approach between now and the end of the window.
“But I’ve always felt that Declan Rice would stay for one more year, and I think maybe [Onana] is an heir apparent.
“They’ve already signed Flynn Downes. They’re planning for a future without Declan Rice, but not necessarily this summer.”
Chelsea are currently eyeing up big-money acquisitions from the around the Premier League, including Brighton’s Marc Cucurella, Leicester’s Wesley Fofana, and possibly Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters [Guardian].
Speculation returns
Onana isn’t even through the door yet, although hopes have to be pretty high now that the hard part of convincing Lille to let go of the young international just a year after signing him is done.
If he is added to Downes in the centre of the midfield for David Moyes then it would give the Scot an enviable set of options in that area.
Rice is the first name on the team sheet, and Tomas Soucek appears likely to stay now as well, so the depth that was missing last season could soon be available in abundance.
While the accepted wisdom following the lack of a real market for Rice this summer is that he has agreed to stay on for another year, there is still a lot that could change in that time.
Logically, the two recent signings would appear to be sensible moves to prepare ahead of time, but considering how close West Ham got to qualifying for the Champions League last season there has to be an outside chance they can actually do so this year.
With Downes, Nayef Aguerd – once back from injury – and Gianluca Scamacca added to the key figures from the previous campaign, and the likes of Onana and Maxwel Cornet possibly following, the squad should have even greater capabilities.
Should this side show the growth that this window is suggesting might be possible, Rice could well decide that he wants to remain the figurehead of the project.
Everything is looking good on paper right now, although Aguerd’s injury shows all sorts can go wrong in reality, but if that can be translated onto the pitch this year it could have even more important results next summer.