Darren Ambrose says Arsenal transfer target Declan Rice would be joining Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea from West Ham United if there weren’t rumours about Mason Mount leaving.
The England duo are best friends and they grew up together in Chelsea’s academy, before Declan Rice was released as a teenager and then proceeded to make a name for himself at the London Stadium.
Fast forward to the present and now the Hammers captain is being tipped to join Arsenal, whilst Mason Mount could be headed to Manchester United, with a £40 million bid rejected, as reported by The Telegraph.
Even going back to when Frank Lampard was in his first stint as manager at Stamford Bridge, he wanted Rice to make the switch across London, so there has been a long interest in Rice from Chelsea.
But now the West London club, whilst they have a wad of cash, don’t have Champions League football to lure a player that recently helped end West Ham’s 43-year wait to win a trophy by winning the Europa Conference League.
Of course, that helps Arsenal’s cause, but former Premier League midfielder Ambrose does feel that if Mason wasn’t being tipped to leave, then he would be ‘on the phone’ with his best mate and telling him to join him at the Bridge.
“This situation with Mason Mount at Chelsea, it definitely would have come into play,” said Ambrose. “If Mason Mount was a regular at Chelsea now, flying and playing in the first-team like he used to, then I think he would be on the phone to Rice saying, ‘Get yourself to Chelsea midfield partner’.
“And that would come into play, whether people would like to think it would or not. As a friend being at a football club, I had it with Benty (Darren Bent) at Charlton, it does come into play.”
Arsenal have second bid rejected for ‘world-class’ Declan Rice
Manchester United defender Luke Shaw recently dubbed Rice, alongside Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane, as ‘world-class’ when talking about if he tries to persuade some of his England teammates to join his club.
It remains to be seen if Kane will get his move this summer, but it does seem as though Rice will join Arsenal, it’s just a case of agreeing on a deal, with a second bid of £90 million rejected by West Ham, as reported by The Telegraph.
It look as though the Gunners will have to go north of £100 million if they want to sign the hard-hitting midfielder because West Ham are losing such a key member of their squad.
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