‘I rate him very highly, He’s available’ – Tuchel finally drops massive bombshell on player ahead of summer transfer
Over the weekend it was reported that, Declan Rice has rejected yet another contract offer from West Ham and he is open to leaving this summer.
However, Chelsea have been strongly linked as a potential destination for some years now and those links will not go away.
Tuchel was asked how highly he rates Rice, and his response was obvious:
“Very highly,” Tuchel replied instantaneously during his pre-match media duties, Tuchel said via Football London. “He seems to be a very nice guy from what everybody tells me and is from the Chelsea academy and he proves this [his quality]. That’s the most important thing. It feels like he plays every single game.
“He is available, is captain, plays with a lot of responsibility, is a physical player, very strategic-minded player, a key player for his team, and is strong at set-pieces. This is not a surprise. Everybody sees this. He is a huge part of the success of West Ham and it is impressive.”
It’s been reported before and it is very clear how much Tuchel would admire him and love him to come back to Chelsea. But Tuchel is also concerned of the silly numbers floating around about how much it would take to sign him this summer.
“Maybe they [players as expensive as Rice] are even out of our league if we don’t have our crisis when you hear the numbers that are floating around,” Tuchel said with a smile ahead of tomorrow’s clash at Stamford Bridge.
“But as you know, we don’t speak about other players when it comes to whether we are interested or not interested because we take care of the guys that we have here. Our situation gives me a slight advantage that we can’t even think about buying or selling. So there is no need to think about it.”