Chelsea do have the option to tempt West Ham United into selling Declan Rice at a lower fee.
The Hammers are reportedly holding out for an insane sum of £80 million for their young defensive ace.
Rice, while very talented, might be out of Chelsea’s price range after the transfer activity they have enjoyed these past few months. Frank Lampard has expended over £200 million to sign the likes of Ben Chilwell, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz. Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr additionally came in for free.
However, none of these names have broken Chelsea’s transfer record just yet. Havertz’s transfer fee is only set to rise beyond £72 million if certain clauses are met. Lampard will have to think twice before making Rice the club’s recording signing of all time. Fans would not mind taking that tag off of Kepa Arrizibalaga, who continues to falter in goal.
West Ham United are targeting Emerson Palmieri in the transfer market and Chelsea can use him to lower Rice’s asking price. The left-back is excess to Lampard’s needs at West London and is ready to leave. There was significant interest from Italy but Chelsea’s demands has put off a lot of clubs.
Perhaps using him as a pawn in this transfer could prove to be fruitful for Chelsea. After all, they did manage to lower Havertz’s fee from £100 million to £72 million through one way or the other.
READ MORE: Top 5 best Chelsea players of decade (2010-2019)
