The narrative was perfectly crafted for young Declan Rice last night, captaining his current team a second time, facing off against the team that let him go as a schoolboy and was recently linked with bringing him back home.
Unlike his former team, Declan Rice duly complied, showing quality on and off the ball when West Ham was 3-2 winners and consigned Chelsea to a third consecutive winless visit to the Olympic Stadium. Rice, deployed in midfield this time after recent midfield appearances, was instrumental in the Hammers keeping Chelsea at bay in open play, while also taking into account some incisive passes and strong play on rare possession. at the other extreme, especially in West Ham’s second goal.
Michail Antonio may have been the Man of the Match, but Rice showed some of the qualities that would surely be useful on this side of Chelsea, and the kind of qualities that would have helped to prevent Michail Antonio from being the Man of the Match, not to mention all the all other defensive weaknesses of the team in open play and in set pieces.
While a player will not solve such problems, it is not difficult to see Declan Rice as part of a solution.
And just go and sign Declan Rice please. Reserve Army.
– Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) July 1, 2020
That is why his name is still linked to Chelsea, and that is why we received reports such as that of The Athletic last night, which, citing “club sources”, reiterates that Chelsea is not only “considering” the 21-year-old . but it is one of the “main names” that is considered for defensive reinforcements.
Publicly, everyone involved continues to minimize those possibilities: Lampard does not comment on players from other teams; Moyes wants Rice to stay and form a team around him, etc., etc., etc., but Chelsea certainly has the funds to make a play and if West Ham still manages to go down despite giving them 6 points this season , then Rice would. you probably have a hand on the exit door at least.
After signing Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, Chelsea have improved the attack. Signing Kai Havertz would be tremendous and maybe would change the game, but signing someone like Declan Rice could be more shocking in the long run. And hey, maybe if we can move on some of the deadwood in the squad and the Loan Army, we could even bring them both.
That should be a good thought after the horrors of the night before.
