Declan Rice could close the door on a Chelsea move with this decision

According to The Daily Star, Chelsea target Declan Rice looks set to make a decision on his future in the coming weeks.

The 21-year-old, despite his young age, is an experienced Premier League player. He already has 105 appearances for West Ham United and has scored three goals during this time.

While the Blues have shown they are a force to be reckoned in the attack, the same cannot be said of the defence.

The likes of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho are all excellent players in their own right. However, adding Rice to the mix will add traits to the midfield that the three players lack.

The Englishman will bring with him a calmness in possession and he also reads the game well. Add to it his ability to play forward passes and he will be a fantastic fit for our system.

The Hammers, however, are not keen to lose their star man. They are readying a new contract that will see Rice double his current £60,000-a-week wages. His current deal runs until 2024 with an option for another year.

Signing the new contract will make it harder for us to secure his signature. Rice is someone who is familiar with Chelsea. He was on the club’s rolls before being released at the age of 14.

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A number of youth stars who played with Rice at Chelsea have made their way up to the first-team. This also includes his close friend Mason Mount.

It remains to be seen what the midfielder decides to do. He will do his career no harm if he decides to return to the club where it all began.

Chelsea star N’Golo Kante praises Edouard Mendy for match-saving performance against United

Speaking to the club’s official site, Chelsea star N’Golo Kante has praised Edouard Mendy for his performance against Manchester United.

The Blues and the Red Devils played out a 0-0 draw in the standout fixture of the weekend. While we did have our chances, so did United.

New signing Mendy was at the fore once again as he kept his third clean sheet of the season. Finally, the club appears to have a keeper they can depend on.

“He made some decisive saves. He helped us keep the clean sheet. It’s good for him, for his confidence, and good for the team.”

It is fair to say that Kepa Arrizabalaga’s troubles extended to his defence as well. Playing in front of an indecisive keeper is not the best of situations to be in for a defender.

With Mendy now in goal, we have hopfully put those days behind us. Thiago Silva was also excellent and did well to organize the backline against the United frontline led by Marcus Rashford.

Mendy was twice at hand to deny the United striker what could have been a game-winning goal. Both attempts came in the latter stages of either half.

Kante, for his part, was impressed to see his new teammate play a key role for the club on the field. He hopes that the Senegalese star can keep up his good form going forward.

“I hope he can keep going in this way and continue not conceding any goals.”

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Chelsea have now kept back-to-back cleansheets. While our defence still has work to do, this upturn in form is a positive sign.

With things secure at the back, it will hopefully give the frontline more confidence to contribute at the other end.

Frank Lampard unhappy with VAR after Chelsea were denied a penalty against Manchester United

Speaking to the BBC, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has been left frustrated by VAR following the goalless draw against Manchester United.

Blues skipper Cesar Azpilicueta was grabbed by his United counterpart Harry Maguire when challenging for a header in the first half. However, VAR dismissed our penalty claims after reviewing the incident.

“I thought it was a clear penalty.”

While Lampard admits officials on the pitch may miss things, he is perplexed that VAR has not been able to correct such things.

While the introduction of VAR has been an excellent step. The implementation has been far from impressive.

“They should have taken time and advised the referee to look at the monitor. If he watches the monitor, he has to give the penalty, so it’s confusing.”

With the monitors being made available by pitchside, Lampard believes on-field officials should play a more proactive role in decision making.

This is not the first time that Maguire has got away with a foul against us. He was let off after what looked like a deliberate hit on Michy Batshuayi in the game at Stamford Bridge in February.

He stayed on and went on to score the opener for United that night. Unless implementation of the technology is done right, the whole point of using VAR becomes moot.

Chelsea next face Krasnodor in the Champions League group stage fixture on 28th.

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It was hardly the single mistake officials have made in recent times, let alone the same night. A foul that occurred outside the penalty area was given as a penalty for Sheffield United at Anfield.

One cannot accuse VAR of being inconsistent. After all, they appear to be making the wrong decisions on a regular basis.

Chelsea star Ruben Loftus-Cheek requested to leave the club on loan earlier this summer

According to The Sun, Chelsea star Ruben Loftus-Cheek hopes his loan spell away at Fulham will help kickstart his career once again.

The youngster looked to be on the track of making it at Stamford Bridge under Maurizio Sarri. However, an unfortunate injury suffered in a charity match saw him on the sidelines for 13 months.

Loftus-Cheek struggled to reach the same levels since his return. He started the opening day fixture against Brighton but has not featured for the Blues since.

With his career at Chelsea appearing to stall, he went talk to Frank Lampard about leaving the club on loan. Now at Fulham, he has a chance to resurrect his career.

“We had an honest conversation. I was the one who initiated it. I felt like it was paramount that I played a lot of football this season.”

The summer spending spree has seen the Blues sign a number of players. With competition for spots high, chances were always going to be at a premium.

Moving to Fulham will at the very least see him play more. While the Cottagers look destined for the drop, Loftus-Cheek could give himself a new lease of life at Chelsea.

The 24-year-old is fully confident of his abilities and sees a future for himself at Stamford Bridge.

“I still see my future at Chelsea.”

His spell at Craven Cottage is at best a platform for him to showcase his abilities. Time will tell whether he will succeed in his endeavours.

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This will not be the first time that Loftus-Cheek will have used a loan spell to his advantage. The last time he did that, it sparked his international career to existence.

Hopefully, it will be a case of history repeating itself once again.