Declan Rice has been very good since Project Restart came into effect. West Ham's season has been miserable to say the least, but they steered clear of relegation at the end of the campaign, dragged through the mire - in part - by their talented midfielder.
Naturally, being young and English has put clubs on alert, none more so than Chelsea, which is why the Hammers have gone and slapped a hefty £80m price tag on the 21-year-old to quite clearly say 'back off'.
This comes per The Times, who state that David Moyes' side have put their foot down on the matter with their sky-high valuation, one that is intended to ensure the Blues back off the case for a summer at least. West Ham do not want to sell.Of course, they will be well aware that Chelsea have funding for this transfer window. Already their London rivals have spent big to bring in forward reinforcements, an outlay that looks set to more than double with the pursuit of Kai Havertz.
The German has informed Bayer Leverkusen that he wishes to move on this summer, with personal terms already agreed. However, Chelsea’s first bid has fallen short of the £90m asking price. Discussions will rumble on over the coming weeks.
Since Frank Lampard's men are likely to spend a considerable chunk of their budget on Havertz - following deals for Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech - that leaves less room to manoeuvre for Rice. Therefore a swap deal was proposed to the Irons, one that included Michy Batshuayi and Ross Barkley.
That swap deal was swiftly rejected by the east Londoners, who have made their feelings very clear at Rice.
Barring any colossal bid, or change of heart at West Ham, he looks set to remain under Moyes' tutelage for another season at least.
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Source : 90min