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Both Frank Lampard and Graham Potter had wanted to bring the former West Ham skipper back to Stamford Bridge after he had been discarded by the club when he was a teenager.
Rice subsequently developed into one of the most dominant midfield players in the Premier League during his time with the Hammers and, at various stages over the course of the last few years, it appeared inevitable that Chelsea would look to bring him back to his boyhood club.
According to The Telegraph, however, despite their willingness to pay over and above to secure Europe’s best young players on long-term contracts, Chelsea’s hierarchy believed clubs were being asked to pay an ‘English premium’ for Rice.
Manchester City, ultimately, were the only team to seriously rival Arsenal for Rice’s services during the close season and they backed out after seeing their opening offer immediately rejected by West Ham.
Arsenal eventually agreed what was a short-lived British record £105million transfer fee for Rice and the 24-year-old has already begun to justify his price tag with a series of commanding displays at the heart of the Gunners’ midfield.
Despite baulking at Rice’s valuation, Chelsea had few qualms about going above the fee Arsenal paid to secure the services of former Moises Caicedo, who cost £115m after Liverpool drove up the price by competing for his services.
‘I’ve only had it up on my wall for two weeks, it’s come down already!’ Rice told Sky Sports last month when asked for his reaction to Chelsea’s decision to sign Caicedo for a record amount.
Chelsea also opted against competing for the services of proven Premier League talents James Maddison and James Ward Prowse on account of their ages having decided not to recruit anyone over 25 years old.
The two England internationals have since gone on to make positive impacts at their new clubs, while a series of Chelsea’s new recruits have struggled to hit the ground running.
Indeed, Sunday’s defeat against Aston Villa was their third of the season so far which left Pochettino’s new-look side a lowly 14th in the fledgling Premier League table after six games of the new campaign.
MORE : Jermaine Jenas apologises after calling referee a ‘s***house’ during Arsenal vs Tottenham
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