Rice would cost Chelsea £162.5m

Chelsea believes Declan Rice wants to leave West Ham in order to seal a return to Stamford Bridge, it has been claimed by the Daily Express.

It is the latest  in a series of reports designed to unsettle the Hammer and perhaps turn his head although those close to him know that’s not part of the Rice charcter..

Eurosport’s Dean Jones, speaking on The Football Terrace podcast,  claimed the Blues believe the West Ham star wants to come to the club.

“Let’s call it an informal enquiry,” he said.

“Chelsea are definitely going to go to West Ham and say what’s it going to take. They’re going to do it because they want to know.

“Even if they don’t decide to pursue it after that point, they need to get the ball rolling, they need to know how possible it is and they know that the player wants to come.”

Let’s save Chelsea the trouble, it would take a bid in excess of £100m to even consider selling our prized player and in return, he would want wages north of £150k a week on a six-year contract.

So unless you are prepared to invest fortunes for a player you release for nothing save you breathe and leave him be!