The Sun Newspaper

CHELSEA believe they will sign Declan Rice — because West Ham are desperate for the cash.
Blues boss Frank Lampard sees the England midfielder as the final piece in his jigsaw puzzle.

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Chelsea are still confident they can bring Declan Rice to Stamford BridgeCredit: Rex Features

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Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is desperate to get the star in his squad Credit: EPA

And while the Hammers insist Rice is not for sale, the Blues will make a formal bid in excess of £40million before the October 5 deadline.
West Ham co-owner David Sullivan admitted this week he is “getting more depressed” over a lack of signings.
And he conceded that was due to “limited funds”.
Hammers boss David Moyes has already been forced to sell winger Grady Diangana to West Brom in a £18m deal that sparked a fans’ backlash and a public social media blast from skipper Mark Noble.

But despite spending more than £200m already this summer, Chelsea are confident West Ham can be enticed into opening discussions over Rice, 21.
He remains a close pal of England team-mate Mason Mount after they grew up together at the Blues academy before Rice was released at the age of 14.
Lampard believes Rice’s best position is in front of the back four, a role often occupied by Jorginho.

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David Sullivan told talkSPORT he had made the decision to sell Diangana “because we have eight wingers”.

He added: “I cannot say for sure we are going to sign anybody.
“We haven’t got the money.” 

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WEST HAM hope to get Antonio Rudiger from Chelsea in a loan deal.
The Germany centre-half is worried about his role in Frank Lampard’s plans at Chelsea.

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West Ham are eyeing a shock loan move for Chelsea defender Antonio RudigerCredit: Getty Images – Getty

And he may need a move ahead of the Euro 2020 finals next year.
Hammers are keen to take Rudiger for the season and will pay good money to take him.
They have already failed in similar enquiries for Rob Holding at Arsenal and Manchester United’s Chris Smalling.
Blues may prefer to sell Rudiger, 27, but if that plan fails then David Moyes’ Irons have a serious chance of success. 

The Hammers are also making checks on French centre-half Mohamed Simakan, 20.
Simakan is in the middle of a long contract at Strasbourg and they value him in the £20million class already.
West Ham would not pay Burnley’s £40m valuation for James Tarkowski.
And they were also quoted a huge fee for 19-year-old Wesley Fofana at Saint-Etienne.

Moyes has also been checking out  Hans Vanaken, who has 50 goals in 142 starts for Club Bruges in Belgium.
Vanaken, 28, has won five caps for Belgium.
The midfielder has missed a move to the Premier League in the past but would jump at the chance now. 

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PEP GUARDIOLA always feared it could come down to a survival of  the fittest.
Yet the Manchester City boss surely believed it would take a little longer than two weeks to be proved correct.

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Pep Guardiola’s worst fears regarding a player burn out are started to come to fruitionCredit: PA:Press Association

Guardiola was not the only one to warn the players faced burn-out, given the added demands on an already tight-as-cramp schedule.
Now, without Gabriel Jesus for up to six weeks, Bernardo Silva on the list of walking wounded, and Sergio Aguero still far from a return, he has come out fighting.
Guardiola was speaking for every club when he said: “No one cares about the players.”

 City and neighbours United were given a week’s grace before their campaign began, as their European exploits meant they only finished the previous one in mid-August.
Yet international calls meant a pre-season of less than three weeks for many — and the fall-out has already started.
Guardiola added: “It is not just Manchester City it is all the clubs, all the countries. Nobody cares for the players.
“This is a business and we are part of the business, but we want to do it as best as possible for ourselves and for the fans unfortunately watching at home.

“But for a long time now we have had this. So for the players, the pre-season was one or two weeks and then you have to play every three days for 11 months.
“I understand this is an exceptional situation. For the restaurants, cinemas, the  theatres, museums, shopping, for everything.

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Gabriel Jesus has been ruled out for six weeks through injuryCredit: Getty
“Everyone is struggling, so we are not exceptional in this.  But we had three players come back from the international duty and they were injured and we cannot control this. They let them play  without preparation, two games in three or four days.
“In the end they are not machines but we demand a lot of them, and sometimes the muscles break down.”
Guardiola goes into today’s clash with Leicester missing both his spearhead strikers in Jesus and Aguero.
Even though his squad is packed with stars, it means 17-year-old Liam Delap could feature again, just three days after making his debut.
There is no immediate let-up to the schedule either, no chance for weary limbs to get some much-needed rest.
City have Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fourth-round trip to Burnley, most will be involved in the next set of international fixtures in a fortnight, and the next European campaign is just around the corner.

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There is no doubt if he still had the chance, Guardiola would be tearing his hair out.
He said: “Every association  — the Premier League, Uefa, Fifa, the Carabao Cup — they defend their own business and their position, so you have to play every competition.
“With the international teams, the federations need to play games for qualification for the Euros, the World Cup because it’s Uefa and Fifa’s responsibility to organise their own tournaments.
“They need the players and the situation is exceptional — everyone understands that.
“But we had 11 months playing incredible games, then the players had two or three weeks and had to come back and play another season.”

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JOSE MOURINHO is becoming increasingly frustrated with Tottenham for failing to land him a back-up striker for Harry Kane.
The Spurs boss has had to embark on a new season with his club gambling again on just having England star Kane as a solitary hitman.

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Jose Mourinho will have to rely on Harry Kane for the 2020-21 campaignCredit: Rex Features

SunSport revealed Mourinho wanted Ollie Watkins — who grabbed 28 goals last season for Brentford — to be understudy to Kane.
But he had to watch Aston Villa land the 24-year-old, for a fee of £28million, which could rise to £33m with add-ons.
Watkins has already scored twice in two EFL Cup appearances for Villa this season and made a full debut in the Premier League in the 1-0 defeat of Sheffield United six days ago.

Mourinho has told friends he cannot believe a big club like Spurs have just ONE recognised central striker compared to the likes of Manchester City — Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus.
While Chelsea have Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham, Olivier Giroud and rivals Arsenal can call on Eddie Nketiah, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Manchester United boast Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Odion Ighalo and even Leicester have two in Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho.
A pal said: “Tottenham is the only club in the world with one striker.

“It is the same as last season. Do fans really think Jose wants four left-backs, six wingers and one striker? It is incredible.”

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Spurs missed out on the signing of Ollie Watkins Credit: Rex Features

Levy has sanctioned around £60m worth of spending this summer.
But the cash has been splashed on defenders Sergio Reguilon and Matt Doherty and midfielderand Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Kane continues to bang in the goals for Spurs — who face Newcastle at home today — but he has had injuries and missed 67 days and 14 games last season from January 2 with a thigh problem.

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LIVERPOOL striker Rhian Brewster wants to speak to Crystal Palace about the chance to become a Premier League star.
Brewster, 20, has been chased by the Eagles, Sheffield United and Aston Villa among others.

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Liverpool kid Rhian Brewster is keen on joining Crystal PalaceCredit: Reuters

But he fancies a return to his home town of London and the chance of a regular start.
The England Under-21 hopeful is stunned the Kop will sell him after his return from a loan at Swansea, but he has considered his options and Palace are his first choice.
Now Palace will try to sort out a fee with Liverpool that could reach as high as £20million with extras.

The south London club are unlikely to accept Liverpool’s demands for a buy-back clause, although they could offer them a slice of any profit if they sell Brewster.
Palace signed Michy Batshuayi from Chelsea on loan for a season but Brewster would have a long-term chance of making the main striker slot his own. The deal would also push Christian Benteke further out of the Selhurst door.
And if the price is agreed for Brewster it would still leave Palace with cash for Brentford’s Said Benrahma.
The Eagles are the only current bidders for the wide man and will try to sort out a deal before the transfer deadline.

Meanwhile, Watford will not drop the price for Ismaila Sarr by much — despite Liverpool cooling on the deal.

The Hornets wanted £40m when the Kop was interested, before Jurgen Klopp’s decided to go for Diogo Jota.
The Senegalese winger, 22, wanted the Anfield move.
A couple of Premier League clubs are watching developments, but the word from Vicarage Road is the fee is down but still around £35million.
Crystal Palace centre-half Ryan Inniss is also wanted on loan by Keith Curle’s Northampton.
Inniss, 25, has been out  on loan before and Curle hopes to beat rivals to his signature.
Boss Roy Hodgson has blocked any chance of a loan exit for midfielder Scott Banks, 19, too after he dazzled for the club’s under-23s.

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DAVID MOYES says he will hate having to boss West Ham from his sofa tonight.
The Scot cannot attend the home clash with Wolves because he tested positive for coronavirus, along with stars Issa Diop and Josh Cullen.

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David Moyes will return to duty for West Ham on ThursdayCredit: AFP or licensors

Instead, he will be racking up a phone bill by keeping in constant contact with No 2 Alan Irvine.
Manager Moyes, 57, said: “I hate to miss games and I am really disappointed I can’t be there but I have to abide by the rules.
“It is hard but it is the correct thing to do in order to keep other people safe. I am disappointed to have contracted Covid-19 but, as we all know, it can affect anybody.
“I haven’t felt ill at all and I hope that continues and I’m able to return as soon as the isolation period is over.”

Moyes and the two players will be back on duty on Thursday, so will also miss Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash at Everton.
The Hammers trio only found out they had tested positive 70 minutes before Tuesday’s third-round tie with Hull, which West Ham won 5-1.
Moyes added: “We knew there was always the possibility it could happen.
The three of us left the stadium quickly and Alan took over, which, again, was pre-planned.

“There was no big drama and that was important because we had to make sure the players were totally focused on the game. It was great the players responded so well.”
West Ham go into the Wolves game pointless in the Premier League.
They were poor in the opening day loss at home to Newcastle but were much better last week in the 2-1 defeat at Arsenal.

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Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves side will face West Ham on SundayCredit: PA:Press Association
Midfielder Declan Rice, 21, said: “We know it’s time to get points on the table. The result was tough to take at Arsenal, we should probably have nicked it.
“They had two shots on target and scored two goals, which was hard to take, given the chances we created.”
West Ham face Leicester, Spurs, Manchester City and Liverpool in their next four Prem matches.
Rice added: “Last season, these are the games we performed in. We only lost narrowly in the matches at Liverpool and City.
“On paper it’s really tough, but we know we can get a result if we play to our own game.”

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