Frank Lampard admits his top target for Chelsea was a player who could join Arsenal now

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Frank Lampard has admitted that Declan Rice was his top transfer target at Chelsea, but the midfielder now looks like he will join Arsenal this summer.

The West Ham United skipper, branded as ‘world class’ by David Hunt (Standard), is one of the best midfielders in the country. He has been unbelievable over the last few years, and it was always only a matter of time before he moved to a big club.

Chelsea were constantly linked with Rice over the years and Lampard has claimed on The Dairy of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett that he really wanted to sign him.

Frank Lampard says Arsenal-bound Declan Rice was his top target at Chelsea

It was almost a guarantee that Declan Rice would leave West Ham this summer, and it looks like he will be joining Arsenal in the coming days.

The Gunners agreed a deal with the Hammers over a week ago. The midfielder has been given permission to finalise his move (The Athletic), and it shouldn’t be long now before it is made official.

Arsenal fans are absolutely delighted that they’re getting Rice, but Chelsea supporters have every reason to be annoyed. The Blues released him from their academy when he was young and had multiple opportunities to bring him back in recent years.

Lampard spoke about Rice today, and he admitted that the West Ham skipper was his top target when he was at the helm at Chelsea.

He said, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano: “I wanted to bring Declan Rice to Chelsea when I was there as a coach before, he was my top target.

“I was like… this kid, Declan, is going to be the captain of Chelsea for the next 10 years”.

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This will annoy Chelsea fans even more, but there’s not much they can do now, is there?

The Blues definitely have the money to blow Arsenal out of the water, but after finishing 12th in the Premier League last season, their hopes of signing players like Rice were always slim.

Arsenal, who narrowly missed out on the league title, were always in a better position, and Mikel Arteta’s side have even managed to beat Manchester City to his signature.

A deal is yet to be announced, but David Ornstein claimed just last night that it is done and dusted. An announcement should be out very, very soon.