Former Chelsea captain urges Lampard not to sign 21-year-old rival PL star

Dennis Wise urges Chelsea not to sign Declan Rice

In an interview with Stadium Astro (h/t Express), former Chelsea captain Dennis Wise has urged manager Frank Lampard not to spend on West Ham star Declan Rice as the club have enough options in that department.

Chelsea have been heavily linked with a move for the 21-year-old Rice. The centre-back turned defensive midfielder started out at the Chelsea youth academy, before making the jump to West Ham.

Having broken into the first-team at the East London outfit in 2017, the youngster has grown into one of the brightest talents in the country. The 21-year-old was initially deployed in his natural centre-back position, before being moved to the defensive midfield role in 2018, where he has thrived.

In fact, Rice has become the first-choice holding midfielder for both club and country over the past two years.

However, Wise is of the belief that Chelsea have plenty of options in the centre of the park as things stand. And, hence, he has stated that he would like the club instead invest in a left-back rather than splashing the cash on Rice. (h/t Express)

“I think they’ve got enough in that department. So I think he wouldn’t be one that I would concentrate on bringing in. I mentioned obviously left-back is somewhere where I think you can get someone as good as Chilwell to come in and he would improve the team.”

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Signing Rice to use him as a defensive midfielder might not make much sense. But the fact that he can easily slot in at the heart of the defence, which has been a problem for us this term makes him a viable target.

However, a new left-back is a more pressing concern for us at the moment. So, it remains to be seen what Lampard decides in the coming weeks.