Chelsea are hoping to bring England international Declan Rice to Stamford Bridge this summer to bolster their squad. 

The versatile defender-turned-midfielder has been on Frank Lampard’s radar for a while and a move could be put in place for him to join best friend Mason Mount. However, Danny Murphy thinks Rice will be battling for game time if he joins the Blues.

Speaking to talkSPORT, the former Liverpool midfielder has given his take on a potential move to Chelsea for the 21-year-old. Murphy apparently sees West Ham’s star as more of a centre-back than midfielder, which is the position in which he started his senior career. He has warned Rice he likely won’t be picked to start in many games if he is to join the Blues as a midfield man.

“The only thing is, if you look at Chelsea’s predicament, in the midfield area of Jorginho, Kovacic and Kante – Declan would be going ‘unless they got rid of one or two of those, I won’t be playing midfield,'” Murphy stated.

“Although he could compete with them, they wouldn’t spend that much on a player just to have another central midfielder.”

Rice’s current Transfermarkt value is £44.5million, which is a sensible amount for the 21-year-old. Despite operating mainly as defensive midfielder this season, the Englishman could bolster Lampard’s defence, particularly as the club continues to go under transition. However, talks of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho leaving the club are being held and Rice could be thrown a lifeline which finds him facing less competition for his preferred role.

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