Report: £100m-rated Chelsea target ‘Unhappy’ after club stopped him from making Chelsea move
Declan Rice is unhappy with West Ham for depriving him of a move away from the club owing to their £100 million valuation of the midfielder, according to reports.
The 22-year-old was heavily linked with various Premier League sides this summer, with previous reports suggesting that Chelsea had shortlisted their former academy star as one of their main transfer targets.
It was further claimed that Rice had rejected a number of contract renewal offers in east London amid interest from several sides, though it was suggested that the England international would not hand in a transfer request owing to the respect he has for the Hammers.
According to The Telegraph, Rice is unhappy with his current side for effectively ruling out a move for him summer, with West Ham having set an asking price of £100 million for their star midfielder.
The likes of Chelsea and Manchester United were interested in plotting a move for Rice, who has accepted the fact that he will be playing at the London Stadium this season, with West Ham’s valuation, which is in excess for the club-record fee (£97.5 million) paid by Chelsea to sign Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, proving too high for a club in the post-pandemic transfer market.
Furthermore, it has been stated that Rice could even be targeted by Manchester City next summer, as the midfielder believes that he has to play Champions League football and compete for major trophies to progress his development.
Chelsea’s interest in Rice dates back to when Frank Lampard was Blues boss, with several sources confirming that the Blues legend was targeting a swoop for the defensive midfielder last summer.
It was believed at one stage that West Ham insisted that their academy graduate is not available for any amount of money this summer, as club officials believed that they were in the driving seat to keep hold of their young star, with his existing deal in east London running till 2024, with an option of extending his stay for an additional 12 months.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is a big fan of the midfielder, who was a ‘key target’ for the Champions League winners this summer.