A new Declan Rice Chelsea twist could seriously influence the fee West Ham get for him when he is sold this summer.
If West Ham are hoping for a bidding war to drive up the Declan Rice price this summer one club they want involved is Chelsea.
It is fair to say Chelsea are one of the few clubs rivalling West Ham as the biggest failures of the Premier League season.
The Hammers and their fierce rivals Chelsea were in the top three spenders in the top flight this season.
The Blues spent the bulk of that with a ludicrous £600m outlay. But West Ham splashed considerable cash too, spending £185m in the two windows.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has been accused of paying way over the odds for players.
Chelsea would add millions to any Rice bidding war
West Ham fans are well aware they are approaching the final whistle on seeing their beloved captain Rice in the claret and blue.
Chelsea are one of a host of clubs that have been heavily linked with Rice over the last couple of years.
More recently, the West Ham man is being hotly tipped for a big money move to Arsenal in the summer.
But David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky will undoubtedly have hoped Boehly will drive up the Rice price by trying to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
New Declan Rice Chelsea twist could seriously influence the fee West Ham get for him this summer
So a new Rice Chelsea twist could seriously influence the fee West Ham get for him this summer.
Because according to Claret and Hugh, Chelsea are out of the race to sign Rice.
They claim any former allegiances, friendships with Mason Mount and some members of the Rice family being Chelsea fans have been rendered irrelevant by the chaos at Stamford Bridge.
“In hindsight it appears that Boehly’s only qualification was to own the biggest wallet in town when former owner Roman Abramovich was stripped of the club,” Claret and Hugh state.
‘Rice wants what Chelsea can’t offer’
“What this ultimately means of course is that Chelsea are out of the race for Declan Rice in the next transfer window. Forget any former allegiances, friendships with Mason Mount and some members of the Rice family being Chelsea fans.
“West Ham captain Rice is a world class footballer who rightly wants to strut his stuff on the Champions League stage and Chelsea can’t offer that.”
The report makes some salient points.
And it should also be noted Chelsea broke Rice’s heart when they left him on the football scrapheap as a 14-year-old.
Rice has also proved that competing for top trophies and in the Champions League is his motivation and not money by turning down the biggest contract in West Ham history.
Speaking to Hammers News earlier this season, majority stakeholder Sullivan denied reports that West Ham held talks with Boehly about selling Rice to Chelsea.
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