Chelsea Head Coach Frank Lampard, has put Italian midfielder Jorginho on the transfer list in other to raise fund for the signing of £65m rated English man Declan Rice.


Declan Rice has been a long term target for Chelsea as they’ve been looking forward to sign the West Ham youngster so as to bolster his defensive options.

After spending a combined €86 million on Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, Chelsea would need to raise funds for the signing of the Hammer’s deputy captain who was once a young blue. They also look in the direction of Bayer Leverkusen young attacking midfielder Kai Havertz to help add creative spark to Chelsea’s game.

The deals involving Timo Wener and Hakim Ziyech were funded by the profits gotten from the sale of their former talisman Eden Hazard to Real Madrid. The club are also willing to balance their financial books, and they’ve stated that if Lampard wants to get his desired players they’d have to raise fund from player sales this summer.

Amongst the English Premier League 2019/2020 top ten teams, Chelsea conceded the most goals. Their weak defensive line was exposed by Arsenal last Saturday when forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a brace in the FA Cup final which they lost from a winning position.

Rice is a versatile player who can fill in the gaps in a holding-midfield role and also as a center half but for West Ham he has been mostly deployed as a holding midfielder. If he makes the switch to Chelsea, he’s likely to have a long-term career as a central defender as long as Frank Lampard is still in charge.

West Ham United value their former Chelsea tough teamer at £65million after he’s shown consistency in playing good football since his debut and he had his best campaign this season. His brilliant season also helped the struggling Hammers.

Daily Telegraph reported that Chelsea would have to let go of some senior players in their defense before another central defender can come in. If Chelsea are to get Declan Rice, it’d would mean shipping off either Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger or Andreas Christensen or two out of the trio if possible.

The much preferred alternative would be to sell Jorginho, who Lampard himself is willing to ship off. All left now is for transfer guru Marina Granovskaia to find a new home for the former Napoli man.

The Italian midfielder who was an untouchable in the team has found himself out of favour since the Premier League restart. He was only brought back to the squad when N’Golo Kante and Billy Gilmour were out due to injury.

Juventus boss Maurizio Sarri is pushing for a reunion, as he coached the midfielder at Napoli and Chelsea.

Former Manchester United Gary Neville who is now a pundit with Sky Sports has once said that Jorginho did not fit into the squad that Frank Lampard wants to build.

“You have to think that he [Jorginho] is being managed out of Stamford Bridge,” the Manchester United legend said.

“I think it’s been clear from the moment Frank Lampard came in that he wants to build a young and hungry squad.

“Look at the way David Luiz was let go. With the way Jorginho has been dealt with, it’s quite clear where Lampard wants to take the team.

“When you think of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp over the last few years, they don’t veer away from the plan for any player.

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