LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 01: West Ham United’s Declan Rice and Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic fight for the ball during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Chelsea FC at the London Stadium on July 1, 2020 in London, England. Football stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, as laws prohibiting social distance from government fans in venues, leading to all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Michael Regan / Getty Images)
Chelsea’s most important defensive signing should be Declan Rice to support a key both midfield and back line.
The demolition of Chelsea at the feet of Bayern Munich was not unexpected nor unpredictable. The 2019/20 team, especially after the recent injuries, is simply not in the same class as Bayern. A demolition of two games of 7-1 in the Champions League clearly signals the rift that exists between now Chelsea’s last season and what is predicted for 2020/21. Surrendering seven goals in two games will not get the job done. There is positive evidence that defense needs to be taken seriously alongside other positions in this transfer window.
A good start has been made to correct the lack of offensive fireworks with the additions of Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, and hopefully briefly, Kai Havertz. These are top speed add-ons. If Havertz is added, Chelsea should be the equivalent of almost every side in Europe in the 2020/21 attack. It’s an exciting prospect for Chelsea fans and the Havertz deal should come across the line. But defensive negligence will be done on the danger of the team and the best initiative for Chelsea would be West Ham defender, Declan Rice.
Travel makes perfect sense on so many levels that what investments Chelsea need to make to secure its services is justified. Without a doubt, players will have to leave to fund his and other infusions of talent. That, in any case, is a foregone conclusion. A major clearance is needed at the club and has already begun with the departure of Pedro and Willian. More will follow.
Travel adds value to Chelsea at various levels. First, head coach Frank Lampard is rumored to be keeping the player as a central defender. He certainly has a lot of attributes to lock in right there, although he has been more of a defensive midfielder for West Ham. Reis has good, though not overwhelming size to play central defense. He’s about 6’1 ″ tall. That is marginal, but he compliments his relative lack of height with several other dominant attributes.
Overall, Travel is a tough defender. He also has excellent tackling skills and he has the power to run wingers and run the ball easily forward. He also has the grit to make life miserable for attackers when he’s in the middle of central defense. Chelsea have no intimidating power at the moment. Travel can bring that dimension to the club without a doubt. He also has another key strength that Chelsea desperately need. Leadership.
Travel is a leader. He was promoted as the next captain of West Ham when Mark Noble decided to hang up his cleats. That would not allow this to happen, whatever the cost. Chelsea made a mistake when they cut ties with Rice a few years ago. Now they have to correct the mistake by getting him at this critical moment in their 21st century history.
Chelsea need the kind of leadership that Rice can provide. It’s largely been missing since the departure of John Terry. Reis has the back to be nicely included as the successor to the legendary captain. The value of such a quality is incalculable. In addition, the young man can really play. He could play two positions that Chelsea desperately need to strengthen at the moment.
In addition to his ability to fit in central defense, Rice provides another commodity for Chelsea that will undoubtedly be of great value next season and entirely of great value from his versatility. He can easily be included as a replacement for N’Golo Kante in defensive midfield if Kante is undefeated or needs a rest. Travel will be a seamless addition. Aside from Billy Gilmour when he returns from surgery, Chelsea will have solid depth with him, Kante, and Rice at this key position that was destroyed by an injury in 2019/20.
Considering both short and long term, Declan Rice could potentially be the most effective transfer of this window, certainly so in defense, if Chelsea can move this over the line in the 2020 window for transfer of summer. Chelsea Football Club needs to add this dynamic, versatile, and tough leader in defense to their squad for 2020/21, whatever it takes. The financial burden may be heavy in the short term, but the profit will be multyfarious in the long run. There are moves that a club just has to make. Declan Rice security is one of them for the Chelsea Football Club. They will never regret it.
