Chelsea offered both Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi in their first bid for West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, according to reports in the UK.

The offer was, however, knocked back by the Hammers, who are believed to be holding out for a transfer fee in the region of £80m for the 21-year-old.

Blues boss Frank Lampard has identified Rice as his main target to strengthen the centre of defence despite the fact that the England international has played most of his senior career so far as a holding midfield player.

Lampard’s side have already spent a sizeable amount on Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, and they are also locked in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over signing Kai Havertz.

With that being the case, it is unlikely that they’ll have much left in the transfer kitty to table a bid for Rice unless players are included in the deal. At the moment, though, it doesn’t seem West Ham are keen on such an arrangement.