Pat Nevin has raised serious doubts over whether West Ham’s Declan Rice will end up joining Chelsea this summer.
West Ham captain Declan Rice, 24, is linked with a potential move away from the London Stadium at the end of the season.
The England international is regarded as one of the top midfielders in the Premier League, so could he finally get his high-profile transfer in the next window?
The Daily Mail claimed earlier this month that West Ham are resigned to selling £100million-rated Rice if they receive a suitable transfer offer. They named Arsenal as frontrunners for his signature ahead of potential rival buyers Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.
Nevin suggests that a move to Liverpool to play at Anfield next season could make the most sense for Rice. As for the Chelsea speculation, he’s not convinced the West Ham star will move across London and sign at Stamford Bridge.
When speaking about Rice on the Off The Ball YouTube channel, Nevin said: “He looks a perfect fit for Liverpool, he’d suit there, his style of play would suit there. He’d add the energy that is fading away from that team. Chelsea will be in there, but I don’t know about that one. You never know, but the temptation, if I wasn’t a supporter of anyone else, I would be very close to Liverpool.”
We certainly love hearing Chelsea’s named linked with Rice because he’s everything we need.
Most Blues supporters will agree that the side is crying out for a new defensive midfielder in the XI, who can allow the likes of Enzo Fernandez to be more expressive on the ball.
Rice has shown for several years now in West Ham colours what an efficient operator he is both on and off the ball.
In our view, he would absolutely walk into the Chelsea starting XI and improve us immediately next season.
It’s no surprise to hear several top teams chasing him, though.