Chelsea have been told to replace N'Golo Kante with Declan Rice in the summer transfer window. The 31-year-old midfielder faces an increasingly uncertain future at Stamford Bridge, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.
Kante will be free to begin pre-contract talks with clubs outside of the Premier League in January in order to secure a move upon the end of his Blues deal in June. The west Londoners can choose to extend his stay at Chelsea at any time, subject to the France international's agreement.
But, as it stands, he's set to leave for free in the summer. Kante is yet to play under newly-appointed boss Graham Potter after picking up a hamstring injury against Tottenham in August.
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He will be on the sidelines for an expected four months following surgery, casting even greater doubt as to whether he warrants a new deal. As a result, Danny Murphy told talkSPORT that Chelsea should 'bite the bullet' and pay what it takes to replace Kante with Rice.
According to The Telegraph, the Blues still hold an interest in the West Ham star. Speaking on the White and Jordan show, the former Liverpool midfielder said: "There's a simple solution for Chelsea moving forward, looking to the future, which is you've got one of the best holding players in Declan Rice. He loves Chelsea.
"He's the one to take his role. He's capable and would be there for the rest of his career. They'll have to bite the bullet and pay whatever it is. That's the solution to replace Kante."
Speaking in April, West Ham boss David Moyes downplayed the prospect of his captain leaving east London. In a bid to do so, he insisted it would take £150million for Rice to leave.
"The first thing to say is that he is not for sale," Moyes said when asked whether the aforementioned sum is feasible. "If you are interested, well, it will be north of that. One hundred was cheap last summer. One hundred and fifty just now would be the minimum, but he is not for sale. What I do know is that it means there are only certain clubs that could even consider it."
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