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West Ham United: Fabrizio Romano claims Declan Rice is ‘pushing’ for Chelsea move

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Image for West Ham United: Fabrizio Romano claims Declan Rice is ‘pushing’ for Chelsea move

Speaking recently on the Here We Go podcast, Fabrizio Romano claimed that West Ham United defensive midfielder, Declan Rice, is ‘pushing’ for a January transfer to Chelsea.

Making his West Ham debut as an 18-year-old back in 2017, Rice has so far gone on to feature 122 times for the club, chipping in with three goals and providing four assists along the way, prior to Wednesday’s clash with Crystal Palace.

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General view inside the London Stadium ahead of West Ham v Norwich City

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The £49.5 million-rated 21-year-old attracted a significant amount of interest from Frank Lampard’s Chelsea over the summer transfer window, however, after West Ham slapped an £80 million price tag on the midfielder, Rice ended up staying in east London.

Although, speaking on a recent episode of the Here We Go podcast, Romano claimed that the midfielder is extremely keen on the idea of moving to Chelsea in the January window, but also stated that striking a deal for Rice with West Ham will not be easy for Lampard and his side.

He said: “He’s always pushing. He’s pushing to join Chelsea. He has a desire to join Chelsea. So, what we can say is that as [it was in] September, it is the same situation in January. He wants to join Chelsea, but he’s so respectful with West Ham and that’s why it’s still up to Chelsea to find an agreement with West Ham.

“At the moment it is still complicated just because after the summer Chelsea had spent a lot of money, so arriving [and] spending €80 million to sign Declan Rice is so difficult in this moment. But, they are still interested.

“So, [in] January, the player still [has] the same desire – he wants to join Chelsea, he wants to play under Frank Lampard. Chelsea think they need something in midfield, so, if Chelsea [are] going to do something [in] January, it will be in midfield. But, at the moment, there [are] still negotiations to be completed with West Ham and it won’t be easy.”

Do you think Rice will leave West Ham in January?

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TIF Thoughts on Fabrizio Romano’s comments regarding Declan Rice…

With West Ham having a very good season thus far, something which Rice has been pivotal to – the 21-year-old has so far featured in every Premier League game for David Moyes’ side, with his highly impressive average WhoScored match rating of 6.99 ranking him as the club’s fourth-best performer in the top flight – it would appear highly unlikely that the Hammers would be willing to part with the midfielder in January.

And, considering the fact that Chelsea’s interest in Rice has already lastest this long, in our opinion, West Ham should declare that Rice will not be available for sale until the summer, in order for him to see through the season with the Hammers that he has been so impressive in thus far.

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Football Writer for Snack Media