Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard, is eager to sign West Ham’s Declan Rice before the transfer window closes next week, the UK Sun reports.
The Blues boss wants to bring in a defensive midfielder and the club is set to make a bid of more than £40 million before the October 5 deadline.
Lampard is confident of signing the England international, as he believes that West Ham are desperate for funds.
Rice, who was released by Chelsea as a 14-year-old, has already made 100 Premier League appearances at the age of 21.
His contract runs until the summer of 2024, but the Hammers could be tempted to sell him, especially with co-chairman David Sullivan admitting that the club have found it difficult to sign new players due to a lack of funds.
Chelsea have been very active in the transfer market, signing Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz, Malang Sarr and Edouard Mendy so far.
However, Lampard has taken four points from their first three Premier League games and had to come from three goals down to draw 3-3 away to West Brom on Saturday.
