Declan Rice
West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has labelled his Chelsea youth experience as “extremely tough” as both the Blues and Manchester United remain linked to a potential summer transfer. Speaking about his experiences at the age of 14 with Gary Neville, the 23-year-old was not scared to open up about the situation.
Declan Rice said: “Yes, it was extremely tough. Obviously, I was released at 14 by Chelsea. Something that I didn’t expect at all as it was all I ever knew as a kid- it was my whole life, going there and training and all the mates I met. And honestly, I thought like that was it, I was gutted . I remember, my Dad coming home and telling me after school but I don’t know what happened but some clubs let on as they know about the situation before I found out.”
Unexpectedly, West Ham’s midfield linchpin then went to to reveal that he started training with one club in particular in the immediate aftermath of that Chelsea let down before linking up with the east London outfit.
Declan Rice revealed: “The day I got released, I went and trained with Fulham at night on a Wednesday. And then on the Thursday, I was at West Ham. My dad drove me to Chapel Heath and I was still gutted, but I needed to kick on and push on again.”
He then went on to sum up his feelings on the whole situation
Declan RIce said: “The big thing about it was the embarrassment of it all. How do you tell your friends that you have been released by Chelsea? Obviously, shock and upset and being at Chelsea as a kid was all I ever knew, so I thought where am I going to go and what am I going to do from here?”
