Gary Neville has told Chelsea how to complete the signing of Declan Rice following the 23-year-old's decision to reject a third contract offer from West Ham. The Hammers midfielder, who was released from the Blues academy at the age of 14, sees his current deal at the London Stadium expire in the summer of 2024, although David Moyes' side do have the option to extend that by a further 12 months.
Frank Lampard first ignited Chelsea's interest in bringing Rice back during his tenure at Stamford Bridge, but no genuine attempt was made to grant that request by those in the boardroom. The England international topped the west Londoners shortlist in the summer, but a move was delayed after West Ham's £100 million evaluation was tipped 'steep', according to The Athletic.
Despite growing interest in Rice - with Manchester United and Manchester City interested too, as per MailOnline - the Hammers boss has waived the prospect of his prised midfielder leaving east London. In a bid to do so, Moyes insisted it will take £150m for Rice to leave.
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"The first thing to say is that he is not for sale," the Scotsman said earlier this month, when asked whether the aforementioned sum is feasible. "If you are interested, well, it will be north of that. One hundred was cheap last summer. One hundred and fifty just now would be minimum but he is not for sale. What I do know is that it means there are only certain clubs that could even consider it."
However, while Moyes has put up a fight to retain Rice's services, Neville insisted that West Ham should accept their fate in the summer. Speaking on Sky Sports Super Sunday, the former Manchester United defender said the Hammers must be 'direct', 'honest' and 'mature' in the summer.
"Declan Rice, we know he’s going to leave in the next year or two," he said. "Because of the relationship, I think they can be really mature about this.I don’t think it has to be played out in the media.
"They can be really direct, honest and then communicate what they’re going to do. I don’t think there’s any reason to allow the speculation to destroy the dressing room spirit."
Neville added by telling Chelsea that they can use Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Old Trafford in 2009 as a template. He said: "When Cristiano [Ronaldo] left Man United the first time, it didn’t have an impact on the club because everyone knew what was happening. There was no sort of wondering what was happening, there was no speculation.
"I think West Ham and Declan Rice could afford to do that with this one because everyone recognises that it’s probably going to happen anyway."
