Lampard ‘ready to Sign £80m-rated Rice

Lampard ‘ready to buy £80m-rated Rice’ to take Chelsea’s spending beyond £250m

Chelsea are set to move for West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, which could take their summer spending above £250million.

The 21-year-old has previously been linked with a £65million move to Stamford Bridge this year as Blues boss Frank Lampard looks to boost his defensive options ahead of the 2020-21 Premier League campaign.

Should Rice agree terms with Chelsea, he will be added to their list of expensive recruits including Timo Werner for £131.3m, Ben Chilwell for £50m and Hakim Ziyech for £33.3m.

As it stands, West Ham are looking for £80million for their star player – which is £15m higher than Lampard has previously tabled.

However, the Blues manager is said to be willing to wait it out for Rice as he knows the Hammers will need to stump up the cash to buy this summer.

Lampard is also known for getting his way, having purchased Chilwell for £50m despite his asking price sitting at £70m.

Lampard believes the 21-year-old could be the difference for his Chelsea side as they look to push for the title next season.

Having spent most of his senior West Ham career as a holding midfielder, Lampard will look to shift Rice back into his defence to add much-needed security.

Hammers’ manager David Moyes is reluctant to sell Rice, but given the little interest in Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini – who he is looking to offload – it is likely that the youngster will go.