West Ham United insider @ExWHUemployee appeared on the latest edition of The West Ham Way Podcast where he discussed all of the latest Irons news and he spent some time talking about Declan Rice and the reports linking him with a move to Chelsea during the show.
Frank Lampard’s side was linked with a move for the 21-year-old Irons man during the most recent transfer window and though they didn’t end up signing Rice prior to the 5th October transfer deadline, it has recently been claimed that Chelsea will ‘try again‘ for the Englishman in January.
@ExWHUemployee addressed those reports during this recent edition of The West Ham Way Podcast, saying:
“It’s been widely reported today about Rice going to Chelsea and another bid coming in for him in January. That could happen, I’m not going to deny that it could happen, what I will correct is that a number of outlets have said Chelsea could big ‘again’ for Declan Rice in January – they haven’t bid for him once yet.
“Of course, they’ve done tentative enquiries to try and gauge how much he would be, but they haven’t submitted an official bid – so it’s not ‘again.’
“It’s said that Declan is interested in that move; I don’t think Declan’s situation has changed because there’s been no bid and he’s very committed to West Ham – very committed, he does love the club. If it is in the back of his mind, it’s not going to affect his performances for West Ham because he loves West Ham.
“There has been no indication that Chelsea are going to bid for him, it’s just rumours. Of course, they could do, because they were interested in the summer but there’s no evidence at this point.”
Do you think Rice will leave West Ham in January?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what @ExWHUemployee had to say about Rice’s rumoured move to Chelsea…
So, while reports have re-emerged linking Rice with a move to Stamford Bridge, it seems from what the Irons insider had to say that Chelsea’s interest in signing the 21-year-old may not be as far along as those recent claims would suggest.
The England international seems to be happy at West Ham judging by @ExWHUemployee’s comments and it may be fair to say he’s shown no signs of being unsettled on the pitch this season, as he has earned the joint-fourth-highest overall WhoScored rating (7.02) of any Irons player in the Premier League this term.
With all of this in mind, as well as the fact he is under contract with the east London club until the end of June 2024, perhaps there is no need for West Ham to rush through a sale of Rice and a move to a Premier League rival for the £49.5m-rated man in the middle of the season would appear to be unlikely.