Declan Rice is the only transfer Chelsea want and West Ham are braced for bid

West Ham are expecting a bid from Chelsea for Declan Rice, but the Blues must shift dead weight before they can move for their No. 1 target.

talkSPORT understands Rice, 21, is the only player Chelsea are seriously interested in signing this month, although the inconvenient timing for West Ham means they may be forced to wait until the summer.

While there was plenty of talk about a potential move during the last window, Chelsea never launched a formal bid as West Ham slapped an £80million price tag on their England international.

Since then, Rice’s value has only gone up following some exceptional performances for West Ham this season.

Chelsea boss Lampard is known to be a huge admirer of Rice, who grew up supporting the Blues and played for their academy for seven years as a boy.

“One player Frank Lampard believes would massively improve his Chelsea team is Declan Rice,” talkSPORT’s transfer guru Alex Crook told Jim White earlier today.

“West Ham were surprised that Chelsea didn’t make a formal bid in the summer and they’re bracing themselves for that to happen, either now or at the end of the season.”

However, Chelsea still have a number of players on high wages who are nowhere near the first team and need to be shifted.

Crook referenced the likes of Danny Drinkwater, Fikayo Tomori, Marcos Alonso and Willy Caballero as players who must go in order to free up some cash for Lampard.

“Before Chelsea can make their move for Declan Rice, who is their No.1 target, pretty much their only target – they need to get players off the books,” Crook added.

“Danny Drinkwater, Fikayo Tomori, Marcos Alonso – three big names that they want to sell.

“Willy Caballero, too, isn’t particularly happy with his place in the goalkeeping pecking order.”