Declan Rice could decide to stay at West Ham beyond the summer as a result of the sanctions imposed on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, according to Trevor Sinclair.
Rice was a part of the Blues academy before being released as a teenager, but the west Londoners are keen to re-sign the England midfielder.
But with Abramovich's assets currently frozen by the UK government, Chelsea are unable to complete any transfer deals or negotiate contracts.
Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool have all also been linked with a move for the 22-year-old but Sinclair believes that Rice may be more willing to wait another year at West Ham before moving to a more stable Chelsea.
“Declan might think, ‘Well I don’t want to go anywhere else, so I might as well stay’," Sinclair told talkSPORT on Friday.
“He’s loved at the club, he’s captain of the club and he’s enjoying his football – so why wouldn’t he stay?
“If Chelsea sort their house out, he might go next summer instead, and that could be a blessing for West Ham fans.”
Rice has been in excellent form throughout the 2021-22 campaign as the Hammers chase down a Champions League spot while competing in the Europa League.
He will not come cheap, however, with West Ham reportedly demanding no less than £100 million for his signature, a figure Michael Dawson believes to be fair.
"Every player his age is going to want to strive to be as successful as he can," he said during Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports.
"He is sensational and he deserves to play in the Champions League and he's got the quality too. We've seen it for England in the summer and what he does for West Ham. West Ham are still fighting for that top four. They've got as good a chance as anyone else.
"But West Ham don't want to sell him. Of course they don't. Moyes doesn't want to sell him. But everyone's got a price. You're going to be paying absolute top dollar.
"But if I'm one of the other so-called big teams in there - take him. You're going to have to pay, probably, one-hundred, £120 million for him."
