England international Declan Rice reportedly has a ‘gentleman’s agreement with West Ham to stay for one more year amid interest from Chelsea.
Rice, a boyhood Chelsea fan, has quickly become a fan favourite. The 23-year-old played a pivotal role in helping his country reach a European Championship final, and has helped guide West Ham into Europe.
His performances have attracted the interest of a host of clubs in the Premier League, but according to talkSPORT, Rice has a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with West Ham to stay at the club for another year.
This is despite Chelsea’s heavy interest in the midfielder, a club Rice would surely be tempted by after spending some time in their academy as a kid.
Although a gentleman’s agreement means little in terms of officially ruling out a sale this summer, West Ham will be hoping Rice keeps his word after giving him a platform to express himself and develop into the player he is today.
With N’Golo Kante and Jorginho entering the final year of their contracts, a signing like Rice could be the ideal replacement and the man to allow Chelsea to begin to compete with Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
This story is speculative BS. There is no such agreement in place. WH have him for another three years, and he could sign a contract extension in that time in any case. If he does ultimately decide to leave, the ABC rule applies – Anyone But Chelsea. Besides being a horrible, plastic club, they would represent a sideways move for Dec. Not happening.
Chelsea didn’t want him so why would he go back there?