Chelsea snubbed chance to sign Arsenal superstar in January, bought Enzo Fernandez instead - Reports
Chelsea reportedly snubbed the chance to sign Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice in the January transfer window, signing Enzo Fernandez from Benfica instead.
Rice recently completed his move to Arsenal from West Ham United for £100 million plus £5 million add-ons. He's now the most expensive British player of all time and also the Gunners' club-record signing.
However, he could have moved to the other side of London had Chelsea tried to sign him in January. As per The Telegraph, then Blues manager Graham Potter had urged the club to sign Rice from West Ham. However, they ended up signing Fernandez from Benfica for a British record fee of over £105 million instead.
Rice played in Chelsea's youth system but was released by the club at the age of 14. He then joined West Ham's academy and came up through their ranks, making his senior debut in 2017.
The Englishman made 245 appearances for the Hammers across competitions, scoring 15 goals and providing 13 assists. He also captained them to the UEFA Europa Conference League triumph, their first major trophy since 1980.
Rice is widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in world football at the moment. He's an important signing for Arsenal and will replace Granit Xhaka, who has moved to Bayer Leverkusen.
When former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said he wanted to sign Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice
Former Blues manager Frank Lampard recently said that he wanted to sign Arsenal's Declan Rice to Stamford Bridge.
Along with the midfielder's football abilities, Lampard was also impressed with his leadership. He said that Rice could have become the west London side's captain for 10 years.
In an interview with the Diary of a CEO Podcast, he said (via Sky Sports):
"When I was at Chelsea before, I wanted to bring in Declan Rice. I said he would be the captain of Chelsea for the next 10 years. It didn't happen, but it's hard for me to dissect other people's work between when I left the club and came back."
Lampard was appointed the Blues manager in 2019 after Maurizio Sarri's sacking. He led them to a FA Cup final but was sacked in 2021.
The Englishman returned to the club as a caretaker manager late in the 2022-23 campaign after Graham Potter's sacking. However, he couldn't turn their fortunes around, as they finished 12th in the Premier League.