Frank Lampard has been told that he must sell to buy before putting any more bids in for big money players.
Chelsea have already spent £84m on players this summer after splashing £48m on striker Timo Werner from RB Leipzig and £36m for winger Hakim Ziyech from Ajax.
That could involve Lampard sanctioning the sale of Jorginho or Kante if they are serious to make a summer bid for Rice.
West Ham insists they have not received a bid from Chelsea for Declan Rice and laughed off any suggestion the midfielder would leave for a figure of around £50m. Yesterday Sky Sport Italia falsely reported a bid had already been made.
Whether Chelsa makes a bid for Declan after selling some players remains to be seen but the club say their star player is not for sale.
Earlier this week a senior club source told Claret and Hugh email: “Let’s make this as clear as possible: “He REALLY is not for sale.”