Chelsea could try to sign both Brighton’s Moises Caicedo and West Ham’s Declan Rice as their need for midfield reinforcements grows stronger, DEPREDICT understands.
With N’Golo Kante walking away on a free transfer to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad, Chelsea are prepared to lose at least four of their senior midfielders this summer.
Alongside Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are in talks over permanent moves to Manchester City and AC Milan, respectively, while Denis Zakaria has returned to Juventus after Chelsea declined to turn his loan into a permanent deal.
As a result, midfield reinforcements are a high priority this summer and Chelsea, who have already missed out on the signing of Manuel Ugarte to Paris Saint-Germain, now have both Caicedo and Rice in their sights.
DEPREDICT understands that Chelsea are pushing to strike a deal for Caicedo and have not yet ruled out launching a simultaneous move for Rice to bolster in midfield.
The Blues are well aware of the level of interest in both players from elsewhere. Caicedo is high on the wish list of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who is also known to be keen to lure Rice to the Emirates Stadium this summer. The Gunners are understood to be leading the race for the England international.
Manchester City, Manchester United and Bayern Munich are also monitoring Rice, who is expected to be the subject of significant bids now that West Ham’s Europa Conference League campaign has come to a triumphant end.
Rice is valued in excess of £100m and West Ham are prepared to stand firm on that figure. His current contract runs until 2024 but the Hammers have the option to extend that by a further 12 months.
Brighton’s demands for Caicedo are not expected to be as high, with an £80m fee thought to be enough to secure the signature of the Ecuador international.
