Report: Rice faces career dilemma

Declan Rice is set to decide whether he will push for a move to Chelsea in an effort to force West Ham into selling him, claims a report by the Independent

Transfer speculation has been rife over the summer that Rice is Chelsea’s last transfer target of the window with rumours of an incoming bid of up to £65m.

The club and David Moyes insist the player is not for sale and no bids or enquires have been received to date.

The manager has repeatedly said it would need a Bank of England offer to break his resolve with some suggesting an £80m bid would be too big to turn down.

Chelsea have spent £200m summer in the market after Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz and Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell joined Hakim Ziyech of Ajax and Timo Werner of RB Leipzig.  They are set to spend another £28m on keeper Edouard Mendy but a deal for Rice would take their spending beyond £300m.

Rice’s only option may be to submit a formal transfer request to force a move to Chelsea with people close to him claiming he will not.

That leaves the deal at a major impasse.