Former Chelsea star Florent Malouda admits the Blues are currently on the same level as West Ham as he questioned why Declan Rice would opt for a move to Stamford Bridge.
The Hammers midfielder is set to leave the London Stadium this summer after years of service. Rice has seen his stock continue to rise and he has ambitions to play in the Champions League, although that is not something Chelsea can offer him after a poor campaign.
The Blues are expected to return to the upper echelons of the Premier League sooner rather than later with Mauricio Pochettino coming in. However, as they plot their summer business, Rice is expected to be on the move and have several options available to him.
Malouda has raised concerns over the attraction of a move to Chelsea in their current state, as he told BoyleSports: "When you look at his quality, he’s one of the first names on the England team sheet and delivering every single week with West Ham. This is a player, like Mason Mount, who is yet to reach his full potential.
"He is used to the Premier League, so he would really not be a huge financial risk. Rice needs a lot of game time, so it becomes a question of where do you fit him in?
"He needs to play every game, he needs to continue to develop and then he can be truly scary. Declan knows Chelsea, but he will still be able to develop in terms of his performances because he wants to continue his performances with England and to win trophies, domestically and internationally.
"But what is the difference between Chelsea and West Ham right now? Apart from the wages and the transfer fee, there is not much Chelsea can offer him right now that West Ham can’t. So this brings us back to the project, where we have to try to compete with clubs who have Champions League football and title ambitions."
Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are all other potential destinations for Rice, who is likely to command a hefty fee despite his contract winding down. The three clubs all have their own needs with midfield an area of concern for differing reasons.
Chelsea have a host of individuals in that area and will have to offload players before they consider bringing more faces in after a 12-month period that has seen them spend over £600m, including the capture of Enzo Fernandes for a British-record fee.
Pochettino has the likes of N'Golo Kante, Fernandez, Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mateo Kovacic and Conor Gallagher at his disposal. Several of those face uncertain futures though with Mount among those whose contracts are winding down.
