Chelsea previously wanted to sign Declan Rice but a move for the midfielder was “never on the cards” this summer, according to football correspondent for the Evening Standard Nizaar Kinsella.
Rice looks set to sign for Arsenal after West Ham accepted a bid of £100m plus £5m in add-ons for the midfielder, with talks over the structure of the deal still being finalised.
The England international was released by Chelsea when he was 14, before going on to play for West Ham and helping the club to lift the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy last season.
And Kinsella says there had been serious interest from Chelsea in re-signing Rice previously, but says that interest dwindled over the past year.
“Massively. At certain times of his career, it’s been a huge possibility,” Kinsella told the Hayters TV Podcast when asked if Rice moving to Chelsea was ever possible.
“I think when Frank Lampard was manager, it was pretty much his dream to bring Rice in to join the midfield and Thomas Tuchel really liked the idea as well.
“Of course the cost as well increasing, not only the transfer fee but the wages would be very high. English players as well, they’re not going to sign these eight-year deals that Chelsea have been putting players on, they’re just not interested in it.
“Mason Mount didn’t want to sign that kind of deal and it’s very rare to get an English player on that.
“I think the fact that Mount was pretty much on his way, since about February I think Mount’s been heading towards the exit door, so when your best friend’s leaving the club you maybe wanted to join and both play for, and certainly they’ll have had conversations about that, is another factor.
“And it also coincided when Arsenal sort of locked down Rice, which is around January I thought, where they just really made sure they were in a strong position for Rice in this transfer window.
“I thought Rice loads of times could have gone (to Chelsea) but not during this transfer window. It never felt on the cards during this specific transfer window and not really during this ownership either, it never felt on that much.
“I don’t think they were ever seriously in the race this time around.”
Chelsea are looking to bolster their midfield following a number of departures, however, with Kinsella telling the Hayters TV Podcast that they are set to make a move for their “number one target” in Brighton’s Moises Caicedo.
