Duncan Castles and Ian McGarry reflected on the most recent transfer window following Monday’s deadline during the latest edition of The Transfer Window podcast. During the show, they spent some time talking about Chelsea’s pursuit of West Ham United’s Declan Rice.
Frank Lampard’s side were linked with a move for Rice during the summer, however, the England international ultimately never ended up making the move to Stamford Bridge.
During the most recent edition of The Transfer Window podcast, McGarry discussed Chelsea’s pursuit of Rice and shed some light on why that transfer didn’t end up happening before Monday’s deadline, saying: “[There was] only one disappointment for Frank Lampard, and that was they did not manage to get Declan Rice from West Ham.
“It is our information that West Ham’s fee for Rice was in excess of £60m, which in the end, proved just too much for Chelsea right now, who have decided to postpone the pursuit of Rice, although they remain interested in the player.
“They will probably go with Kurt Zouma and Thiago Silva in central defence, whereas, of course, Frank Lampard’s plan was to play Declan Rice in the middle of a back three, initially.
“However, that interest could be resurrected in January and if not, in next summer’s window, when of course, Rice will be a further year out of contract and West Ham may be more inclined to sell.”
Do you think West Ham will lower their valuation of Rice in January or next summer?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts…
So, judging by what McGarry had to say, it seems that the Irons’ valuation of Rice proved to be too high for the Blues to justify signing him during the most recent transfer window, however, it does seem as though the journalist also believes that Chelsea could end up going back in for the England international in a future transfer window.
As per Transfermarkt, the 21-year-old is currently valued at £44.55m, so if Chelsea’s valuation is closer to that than the Irons’ alleged valuation of £60m, then it may be understandable why the Blues didn’t opt to sign him.
While McGarry seems to believe that there is a chance that Rice’s current club could lower their valuation of Rice in a future transfer window, the player is currently under contract with West Ham until the end of June 2024 and he has started the 2020/21 season positively, earning an overall WhoScored match rating of 7.37/10 from his first four Premier League appearances this term.
So, with all of that in mind, perhaps there will be no need for West Ham to lower their valuation of Rice any time in the near future and as a result, maybe Chelsea will have to either meet West Ham’s valuation of the player or move on to alternative targets.