Towards the end of this summer’s transfer window, Chelsea suddenly moved on both Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan.
That seemed to be clearing the way for the long-rumoured arrival of Declan Rice. But in the end, the West Ham midfielder stayed put.
It hasn’t left Chelsea short as such – we have plenty of centre-mids, even if they are mostly of a different profile to Rice. But we are still in need of another more conservatively minded midfield player, and Rice continues to fit the bill.
The Athletic have today insisted that Chelsea are still interested in Rice, and will attempt to buy him again in January.
They’ve also explained that the reason that we weren’t able to secure him this summer was simply that we weren’t able to sell enough players to raise funds.
Two deals for outgoing players fell through at the last moment apparently, scuppering the chances of a deal.
That could have been Barkley, Tiemoue Bakayoko or any number of others. Let’s hope we can get it all wrapped up more efficiently in January.
