Why Chelsea Gave Arsenal a ‘Free Pass’ for Declan Rice: The Mystery of the English Bonus Explained

Chelsea gave Arsenal a free pass for Declan Rice as they believed the transfer fee included “an English bonus”.

The Blues had been heavily linked with the England international midfielder for some time ahead of the 2023 transfer window. Having previously had Rice within their academy, the expectation was that efforts would be made to bring him back to Stamford Bridge.

That didn’t happen, and Arsenal struck a record deal with London neighbors West Ham. According to The Telegraph, Chelsea did not approach him because they thought Rice’s asking price was too inflated, as is often the case with English players moving between Premier League clubs.

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Chelsea also passed up opportunities to bid for James Maddison and James Ward-Prowse as they prepared to leave Leicester and Southampton respectively. The Blues ended up spending more on Cole Palmer than Tottenham paid for Maddison and 20 million more on 19-year-old Romeo Lavia than West Ham spent on Ward-Prowse.

Questions continue to be raised about Chelsea’s excessive spending, which has exceeded £1 billion in three windows, and their decision not to sign Rice is made even more confusing by the fact that they spent £115 million to sign Moisés Caicedo from another Premier rival like Brighton.

2023-09-26 21:55:14
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