Chelsea are finally ready to make a move for West Ham United’s Declan Rice which indicates that N’Golo Kante could be on his way out of the club, as hinted by The Mirror.
The Hammers are reportedly ready to part ways with Rice as they are badly in need of transfer funds and along with a number of other clubs, Chelsea too are said to be interested in signing the English international at the end of the season.
The report claims: “Chelsea will move for Declan Rice if they lose N’Golo Kante.
“Real Madrid are tracking Kante as they look to strengthen their midfield and have got the World Cup winning midfielder in their sights.
“That would open the door for Chelsea to move for West Ham ’s England midfielder Rice as a direct replacement for Kante.”
Is Kante moving to Real Madrid from Chelsea?
N’Golo Kante has been a rock-solid figure for Chelsea ever since he joined them from Leicester City four years ago. But this season, the midfielder has really struggled with injuries.
So far this campaign, the 29-year-old has featured in only 18 Premier League games for the Blues and most of these outings have been as a wide midfielder instead of his usual screening role.
Lampard had made it clear that Kante will not be up for sale but now Chelsea might have realised that Real Madrid have a really strong chance of getting their hands on the World Cup winner.
And this is why the Stamford Bridge outfit have reignited their interest in West Ham’s Declan Rice who is expected to cost around £70 million.
This is a really steep price for one player especially in today’s financial scenario but as per TransferMarkt, N’Golo Kante is currently valued at £70.29 million meaning if Chelsea can get the correct price for their own midfielder then Lampard will not have to pay even a penny for Rice out of his own pockets.
But before Chelsea can choose to send Kante to the Bernabeu, Lampard will first have to ensure his club will be able to get their hands on Declan Rice since the likes of Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United are also keeping tabs on the West Ham United youngster.
