Chelsea told to pull plug on Declan Rice deal after journalist’s £100m reveal – pundit

Alan Hutton has insisted Chelsea do not need to splurge on another midfielder in the summer.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Tottenham and Aston Villa defender insisted the Blues don’t need Declan Rice after spending £105million on Enzo Fernandez.

Chelsea signed Fernandez from Benfica on deadline day as they made another big money signing in January.

Graham Potter’s side have also been linked with a move for West Ham’s Rice ahead of the summer window.

According to transfer Fabrizio Romano, as relayed by Simon Phillips (6 February), the price for the 24-year-old will be £90-£100million.

Back in December, as quoted by Sky Sports, Rice said that he wants to win trophies and play in the Champions League as he looks to keep pushing in his career.

When asked if Chelsea should be spending big money on another midfield signing, Hutton told Football Insider:

I do not think so,” he told Football Insider.

I think the striker situation is more of a problem for them at this moment in time.

They just spent £105m on a centre-mid that does the same sort of thing as Rice. Do they need to spend another £100m? No.

Chelsea

I do not really know the direction that they are going in at this moment in time when it comes to recruitment.

I think for a player looking at Arsenal, it looks like a good project at this moment in time. It is something you would probably want to be involved in.

In other news, the Premier League have been told to reject ‘tricky’ Chelsea exemption – ‘they can’t show sympathy’, says finance expert.