West Ham are aiming to keep hold of midfielder Declan Rice this summer’s transfer window but Chelsea may have a route to landing the midfielder for just £60 million.
The Blues were heavily linked with a move for Rice one year ago with Frank Lampard interested in signing the England international.
The Iron’s £80 million asking price proved too much for then-Frank Lampard’s side, who had already splashed out close to £250 million on new players.
The club icon has since been replaced by Thomas Tuchel, who led the west Londoners to win the UEFA Champions League.
And chairman Roman Abramovich has promised to back the German manager in his first summer transfer market as Chelsea boss.
No new recruits have been made yet, but numerous reports indicate the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Domenico Berardi and Erling Haaland among the players the club are interested in.
But they also remain keen on Rice, who enjoyed an excellent UEFA Euro 2020 campaign with his country.
The 22-year-old star started all seven of the nation’s Euro 2020 games and earned high praise for his showings.
That has evidently further enhanced Chelsea’s interest in stealing the player away from their London rivals.
The Irons have reportedly tried to tie Rice down to a fresh contract this summer but to no avail.
The Telegraph’s Matt Law states Rice would currently snub a third contract offer from West Ham and suggests a £60m offer from Chelsea would tempt the city rivals into selling.
“Declan Rice would reject a third contract offer from West Ham. He wants to be made aware of any bids made for him,” Matt said on the London is Blue podcast.
“West Ham would have to have a serious think about any bid that came in over £60m because of the situation.”
Declan is yet to return from his summer break and join up with the rest of the team but David Moyes is clearly confident that Declan will be at the club for the start of next season.
With stadiums set to be full from the opening weekend of the Premier League term and the London outfit hosting Leicester on August 23, David is optimistic of seeing a packed crowd turn up to watch the midfielder and his team-mates at the London Stadium.
