Dean White

Tue 26 January 2021 15:15, UK

Frank Lampard has left Chelsea and according to the Telegraph, interest in West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has left the Stamford Bridge too.

Rice, 22, has been strongly linked with a move to Chelsea for what seems like forever with The Sun reporting in September that the Blues were ready to offer over £40million for the England midfielder.

In December, The Athletic reported that Lampard would remain interested in signing Rice going into the current January transfer window but West Ham would turn down offers of £80million for their midfield star.

Now, it seems they won’t even have to worry about that as the Telegraph reports that the Irons are “confident” that Lampard’s sacking at Chelsea has killed all hope of him swapping East London for West unless new boss Thomas Tuchel makes him a priority.

It is understood that Lampard was fairly desperate to sign Rice as he was willing to sell Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso and Kepa Arrizabalaga in order to finance a deal for the Irons ace.

It would have taken a lot of work and wheeling and dealing for Chelsea to be able to sign Rice but we’re absolutely delighted that someone who wanted him that badly has now gone.

Rice is a Hammer, through and through.

He encapsulates everything that has been so good about the club this season with his leadership, his passion and his superb quality while both in and out of possession.

According to stats by Wyscout, Rice has completed 89.5 per cent of his passes this season in the Premier League. Out of his passes, he’s completed 85.9 per cent of those he played into the final third – which ranks him as 14th-best in the top-flight – and 55.2 per cent of those he played into the penalty area.

Defensively, Rice averages 4.81 interceptions and 7.52 interceptions per 90 minutes of league football, which shows he’s effective off the ball too.

We love everything about this player here at West Ham. He’s such an experienced and professional head that you forget he’s only 22-years-old.

Mark Noble has served West Ham for his entire career, earning a whopping 513 appearances in all competitions.

Rice has a long way to go to try and match that but he’s the only player we’d love to see become a one-club man by staying with the Hammers as long as possible.

And as Lampard has left Chelsea, there’s that slight improvement to the odds of that actually happening.

In other West Ham news, Frank McAvennie has been raving about Brentford’s Ivan Toney as the Hammers hunt a new striker.