Declan Rice has shed light on his unconventional journey to joining Chelsea as a youngster, despite not having played for any grassroots team.
The English midfielder spent seven years in Chelsea’s academy system before his release at the age of 14. Subsequently, he joined West Ham United following a successful trial.
Former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has recently disclosed his desire to bring Rice back to the club during his initial tenure, although the transfer didn’t come to fruition. Rice ultimately made a high-profile move to Arsenal for a club-record fee of £105 million during the summer.
In an interview with Premier League channels, Rice detailed how he managed to capture Chelsea’s attention despite not being scouted in the conventional sense, showcasing the unique path that led him into the footballing spotlight.
“I’ve got two older brothers, they went through the system of playing in a grassroots team – I think my dad was a bit more protective of me, he didn’t want me to, even though I had the better ability of all three brothers!” Rice said.
“My cousin was already at Chelsea at the time and his dad spoke to one of the scouts. But I wasn’t playing for a [grassroots] side so they couldn’t watch me. It was hard to have a trial. He said, ‘trust me, you’ve got to get him down to see him train’.
“It wasn’t Chelsea straight away, it was like a development thing. He said to me ‘your six week trial is up and we want you to sign’. It was crazy.”
Rice was then asked if he was true he managed to get school football training moved an hour earlier so he could have time to make his way over to Chelsea training later in the evening.
“Yeah, I remember in year 7 none of the lads believed me that I played for Chelsea!” Rice replied. “We had our first school match and won like 10-0, I think I scored four or five and they were all looking at me like, ‘oh my God, he actually does’.”