Journalist shares Declan Rice transfer update at West Ham United as Chelsea near £111.7m agreement
Chelsea’s imminent signing of Enzo Fernandez could close the door on West Ham star Declan Rice returning to Stamford Bridge, says Alex Crook.
Irons captain Rice has been tipped to leave the London Stadium for several years and it’s expected that he will ask to leave this summer and finally move on from east London.
Chelsea are said to be frontrunners for his signature, but as they close in on signing World Cup winner Fernandez from Benfica for £111.7m, Crook told the talkSPORT breakfast show (4 January, 8:52) that could close the door on the 23-year-old moving back to the blues.
“He’s more of a sitting midfielder,” he said.
“What I think is interesting, there’s been a lot of talk for a long time about Declan Rice maybe going back to Chelsea, but I think this will maybe close the door on that because they’ve offered Kante a new deal and a new deal is on the table for Jorginho.
“I think he’ll stay in this window, almost certainly, and he’ll almost certainly leave in the summer.”
Excellent
We all love Rice and we all know that he wants a return to Chelsea if all goes to plan for him, but it would be great if he went elsewhere.
The rivalry between the clubs has always been fierce, and Rice is the type of player that would love to go there and make them challenge for honours once again, and he’s good enough to do so.
In an ideal world we would be able to get a huge fee for him and sell him abroad to Real Madrid or Barcelona so we don’t have to come up against him twice a season, but the chances of him leaving the Premier League are slim.
If we can avoid selling him to a London club it would at least soften the blow for the fans, but ultimately Rice is going to have his pick of clubs and the final decision will fall to him.
If Chelsea are out of the equation though, he may even be tempted to sign that new deal to keep him at West Ham after all.