West Ham star player, Declan Rice, has been linked with Chelsea over the last year, but the Blues are now set to line up a different player.
Declan Rice‘s rise over the last three seasons has been well documented. From being the last of his year group to be handed a contract to captaining West Ham and now becoming a regular in the England set-up. The midfielder has become one of the top performers in the league, let alone the Hammers.
A rise a monumental as Rice’s will obviously attract interest from the country’s top sides, and the 21-year-old is no different. Chelsea have been linked to the player for almost a year as Frank Lampard looks to rejuvenate his squad.
Last summer at points it was reported that West Ham were in trouble of losing the player as he was ‘close’ to agreeing to personal terms with thee west-London side. These claims by football journalist, Fabrizio Romano, turned out to be false and the Blues never actually put in a bid for Rice over the summer; instead, they focused on signing German talents Kai Havertz and Timo Werner as well as some other big-money signings.
Blues boss Lampard may have been put off by West Ham’s large asking price for Rice which was as high as £80 million. This price tag, along with Rice’s comfort at the Hammers, has reportedly forced Chelsea to turn their attentions elsewhere.
Reports in Eurosport have suggested that Lampard could be moving his focus onto Borussia Dortmund and England prodigy Jude Bellingham. The 17-year-old made his international debut for the three lions against the Republic of Ireland last week and is establishing himself as a regular for BVB in Germany.
Bellingham made his name at Birmingham City last season when he broke through into the first-team. The youngster was linked to many top clubs including Manchester United before he joined the Bundesliga side for a record fee for a 17-year-old.
Rice is a far more complete player than the Dortmund midfielder, which is to be expected given he is further in career. The Blues could, however, see more potential in the Dortmund youngster to become the better player in the next few years.
Dortmund spent £25 million on Bellingham and will want to make a profit on the player that they have only just invested in. But should Chelsea choose to pursue a move for Bellingham over Rice they could be saving themselves a big chunk of cash on the transfer fee.