FORMER Chelsea assistant Jody Morris has revealed Declan Rice wanted to rejoin Chelsea years before his departure to Arsenal.
Rice has ended up becoming one of the Premier League’s best midfielders and was sold to the Gunners for £105million last summer.
During Frank Lampard’s days as Chelsea’s manager from 2019-2021 Morris who worked as the boss’s assistant claimed he was targeting Rice to replace injured N’Golo Kante.
He said in an interview with No Tippy Tappy Football brought to you by William Hill: “I was always on Frank Lampard’s case saying how unbelievable Rice would be for us when N’Golo Kante kept getting injured.
“And he wasn’t sure at first, but a month later he was all over him!
“I messaged Declan Rice when I was at Chelsea, and I asked him whether he’d come back, even after being released by the club.
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“He said, “I’m a Chelsea fan, of course I would!”
“And from then on Lampard was speaking to him and the upstairs members at the club were talking to his parents.”
Rice was released by Chelsea’s academy in 2013 to the Hammers after spending seven years at the club.
And Morris claims West Ham would have accepted a bid worth £60 million.
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He continued: “In the end, it got put on the back burner in favour of a couple of other signings.
“I didn’t end up going through, but at the time they were quoting around £60-65 million so that would’ve been a steal for someone who could have easily been at the club for 10 years.
At West Ham, Rice succeeded Mark Noble as club captain and led the club to a UEFA Europa Conference League title the following year, as well as being named the competition’s Player of the Season.
After making 245 appearances for West Ham, Rice was signed by Arsenal in July 2023 for a club record fee of £105m, making him the joint-most expensive English player in history.
In his debut game for Arsenal, the midfielder won the Community Shield against Manchester City.
And has since made 32 appearances across all competitions as he battles for a spot on Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad this summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
