Chelsea have suffered a big setback in trying to sign midfielder Declan Rice from West Ham United this summer, according to The Times.
The report states: “West Ham United have valued Declan Rice at more than £80 million amid renewed interest from Chelsea.
“The east London club do not want to sell the England midfielder, 21, to Chelsea, who released him as a teenager. They have already rejected a proposed swap deal involving Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi moving the other way.”
The Hammers initially did not want to sell Declan Rice this summer but over the past couple of months, they’ve had to change their stance owing to the prolonged lockdown.
Now, David Moyes is ready to cash in on Rice but it seems like the London outfit are not in any mood to offer a discount to Chelsea.
N’Golo Kante’s season has been riddled with numerous injuries while Jorginho might also head back to Italy this summer. So in such a scenario, Lampard is very much eager to bring in a defensive midfielder before the new season begins.
While Chelsea have not officially backed out of this transfer yet but we are sure that if West Ham United do not lower their demands there’s no way the Blues will be able to afford Declan Rice.
Chelsea have already spent large sums of money on Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner plus Kai Havertz will also not come cheap either.
And after such a spending spree, we don’t think Frank Lampard will have enough to spend on Declan Rice this ongoing transfer window.
The 21-year-old started in each and every Premier League game for West Ham United this past season and he still has four years left on his current deal at the club.
