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Matt Jarvis: 'Chelsea target Declan Rice worth at least £50m'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 02 April 2020

Matt Jarvis: 'Declan Rice worth at least £50m'

Former West Ham United winger Matt Jarvis claims that rumoured Chelsea and Manchester United target Declan Rice will command a fee of at least £50m.

Former West Ham United winger Matt Jarvis has insisted that Declan Rice will command a fee of at least £50m from any interested parties this summer.

The 21-year-old has been linked with a move to some of the Premier League's biggest clubs, including Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, the latter of whom previously had him on their books before releasing him from their academy at the age of 14.

However, the Hammers are expected to demand a sizeable fee for the midfielder, and Jarvis believes that Chelsea would be a particularly good fit if they are willing to stump up the asking price.

"He's a very talented young player who's obviously playing week in, week out at West Ham and also playing for England. He's really got on to the scene and doing extremely well. He's going to want to continue to improve and it's just whether he feels if it's the right time to move on or not," Jarvis told talkSPORT.

"Chelsea are a club who are going in the right direction under Frank Lampard; the youngsters are getting their opportunities, so it would be a good fit for him to go in with a few other youngsters. He's a completely different player to what Lampard was, but he [Lampard] obviously knows the role of a midfield player and he manages [N'Golo] Kante, who's probably the best one in his role.

"It's going to be a difficult decision for Rice to make because both the Manchester clubs may be interested in him. At the minute he's playing week in, week out, and Gareth Southgate will want to be able to see him playing every week. He doesn't want to be going to a different club and be sat on the bench and not playing, because that won't enhance his place in the England set-up

"He's a really important figure at West Ham. West Ham won't want to let him go as he's an integral part of their team, so they'll be expecting, if bids are coming in, that they'll have to be a lot higher than the usual one. He's young and he's playing for England already; you've got to be looking at probably above £50m in this market."

Chelsea are now thought to be leading the race for the signature of Rice, who is close friends with current Blues midfielder Mason Mount.