Frank Lampard drops Declan Rice transfer to Chelsea hint with Ruben Loftus-Cheek plan

But Lampard has hinted that he still regards Loftus-Cheek as part of his future at Chelsea, indicating that a move for Rice may be off the table.

“He played well [against Tottenham] and I was really pleased to see that because when Ruben was getting fit and was with us, I felt like we missed him last year,” he said.

“And when Ruben was getting fit, I was excited because I know the attributes he has and I wanted those attributes at the club.

“The conversations I had with Ruben earlier in the season were that he wasn’t feeling as sharp as he wanted to be on the back of a really bad injury which he had [a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in May 2019].