With the summer transfer window in its final week, the Blues boss is leaving no stone unturned in addressing his problems in defence.
With seven additions to the team, including three defenders, Chelsea seems to already have a perfect transfer window, but it appears the London club still need a final piece of the puzzle to guarantee perfection.
Following defensive errors from Marcos Alonso and Thiago Silva which led to three goals, the Blues left themselves a mountain to climb as they needed to fight back from 3-0 down at West Brom.
Although Lampard had recently added Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva to his defense line, the Blues manager who has been a longtime admirer of Rice doesn’t seem satisfied with his defensive lineup and is keen on adding the Englishman to his options.
West Ham are however, not willing to sell with manager David Moyes claiming it would only take the “bank of England” to pay for the price of the defender to ward off any potential suitors.
After their 4-0 victory over Wolves on Sunday night, assistant manager Alan Irvine who took over due to Moyes’s absence following the managers’s positive test for coronavirus stressed that “Declan is extremely happy” at West Ham.
“He was captain today, he is not somebody with other things on his mind.”
It’s still too early to judge Thiago Silva, who had a difficult experience on his Premier League debut. However, Chelsea’s centre-backs haven’t really impressed in the three games so far this season, and Rice may be the man to help solve their woes.
The 21-year-old is able to operate as both a centre-back and defensive midfielder will be an added advantage to Chelsea considering Kovacic’s inconsistency in the midfield against West Brom and Jorginho’s future still in doubt.
Some reports suggest that Chelsea will begin by their proposal with a £40m offer based on the financial situation at West Ham but this may likely be rejected in no time.
Will Chelsea be able to convince the Hammers before the transfer deadline closes in a week’s time?
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