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Stuart Pearce backs Declan Rice to turn down Chelsea interest

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 17 October 2020

West Ham United coach Stuart Pearce backs Declan Rice to ignore the interest in his services to remain at the club "for years to come".

West Ham United coach Stuart Pearce is confident that Declan Rice will ignore the current interest in his services in order to remain at the club "for years to come".

The 21-year-old was strongly linked with Chelsea during the summer transfer window, but the deadline passed with the England international still at the London Stadium.

A recent report claimed that the Blues would reignite their interest in January, with the club's head coach Frank Lampard determined to bring him to Stamford Bridge.

However, the midfielder has been backed to reject the interest by West Ham coach Pearce.

"I played my football where I enjoyed playing football and turned money down to stay where I was happy. My biggest driver was probably playing for the national team. I get the same impression now with Dec - he is intensely proud of representing England," The Sun quotes Pearce as saying.

"He'll make his own decisions but we are lucky at West Ham to have a current captain called Mark Noble who has been here for a number of years and has shown great loyalty to the club. I like to think Dec will be at West Ham for years to come, leading the club on to success."

Rice, who has captained the Hammers in three of their four Premier League matches this season, has a contract the London Stadium until the summer of 2024.