Declan Rice will be 'held back' at West Ham says pundit
Chelsea are reportedly closing in on a deal for West Ham star Declan Rice with the midfielder apparently agreeing terms on a five-year contract. Frank Lampard has spent almost £250million this summer but he is eyeing one final piece to his jigsaw.
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"I wouldn’t want to lose him anyway because he is too big a player for us, he is too important and a big part of the squad.
"He’s been captain already, I think he is learning a lot of leadership from Mark Noble, so I hope in the future we will have an incredibly talented footballer with great leadership skills and will be the captain of West Ham."
And transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has explained why it will be difficult for Chelsea to conclude a deal.
"Chelsea are trying to do the same [as Liverpool]," Romano told the Here We Go podcast.
West Ham want Chelsea to pay £80m for Declan Rice (Image: GETTY)
"'We want the big targets and not the plan B back up option'.
"If you talk with West Ham, you have to be honest they're saying the player is staying and the player is not moving.
"It won't be easy and Chelsea are now considering selling players.
"But Declan Rice will push to join Chelsea. He will go strongly to join Chelsea
"We will have to see what will happen because he also respects West Ham as normal but he's going to tell West Ham 'I want to join Chelsea'."
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