West
Ham have dismissed reports they have received a £50m bid from Chelsea for
Declan Rice.
Rice is not for sale according to West Ham, and any £50m bid would be
laughed off with the club hopeful the midfielder will stay for many years.
The 21-year-old, who played in Chelsea's academy for seven years before
being released aged 14, has a long-term contract at West Ham which runs out
in 2024 - and the club have the option of extending it by another year.
Rice will return to the club on Monday for pre-season training with the rest
of his team-mates.
From Chelsea reject to England
international
Since joining in 2014, Rice has gone on to become a regular at West Ham, and
played every single minute of their 2019-20 Premier League campaign -
topping the club's stats for most passes, tackles and interceptions.
Rice broke into West Ham's first team under David Moyes in 2017-18, four
years after his time at Chelsea was brought to an abrupt end.
"I was released by Chelsea at 14 years old," he said back in 2018. "I
remember it, a Tuesday night. On the Wednesday I was training with Fulham,
five minutes from my house, and then on the Thursday I was training with
West Ham.
"After one session at both clubs they both wanted me. There was interest
from other clubs as well but I made the switch to West Ham.
"I had to change house, change school, so it was a massive decision - and
it's paid off. When Chelsea let me go it was really deflating. For me, as a
youngster, it's all I ever knew - living 10 minutes from the training
ground, going to loads of the games.
"It's one of those where you've just got to pick yourself up and go again. I
think some of the boys at Chelsea might be thinking 'wow! Look at Dec doing
well for West Ham'."
After switching allegiance from the Republic of Ireland, Rice made his
senior England debut in March 2019 against Czech Republic at Wembley.
"I probably won't think about it for a couple of days and then it will hit
me," Rice told West Ham TV.
"To make my debut in front of 80,000 fans, and to have my family here; my
girlfriend, my brothers, it's special and to get the victory as well, I
can't really put it into words, but it's a special night."
Rice is close friends with Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount, and was in action
when the latter made his England debut in September.
"We've obviously known each other for a very, very long time and always
speaking about maybe that opportunity of playing with each other again,"
Mount said.
"It's obviously happened today so I went over to him straight away and just
said 'well done, we're back on the pitch together', so, yeah, looking
forward to the future now.
"It's an unbelievable feeling to make your debut for your country, it's
something that you dream of as a little kid."
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