This week could see some developments with regard to Arsenal's pursuit of West Ham United captain Declan Rice, especially as the summer transfer window officially opens on Wednesday.
The midfielder, as football.london understands, is Mikel Arteta's priority signing this summer as the Spanish tactician looks to bolster his first-team squad in the hope of mounting another Premier League title challenge next season as well as giving a good account of themselves in the Champions League.
With Granit Xhaka expected to return to Germany and join Bayer Leverkusen in a £13m deal, Rice can act as the Switzerland international's automatic replacement in an advanced midfield role. Alternatively, he can operate in front of the back four thus providing competition for Thomas Partey and Jorginho should he sign.
Despite the 2022/23 Premier League season ending just over a fortnight ago, the Gunners have held off submitting a bid for the 24-year-old out of respect for West Ham who were building up to their Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina last Wednesday.
And after emerging 2-1 winners, Hammers chairman David Sullivan confirmed Rice had played his last game for the club: "I think it has to be [Rice's final game for West Ham]," he told talkSPORT. "We promised him he could go. He set his heart on going. You can’t ask for a man who has committed more to us this season.
"In due course, he has to get on and we have to get a replacement – or several replacements. It's not something we want to happen. We offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago. He turned it down. It's cost him £10million to stay at West Ham in that time (in lost wages). And he wants to go. You can't keep a player who doesn't want to be there."
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So with West Ham's season now over, Arsenal are expected to submit a bid - believed to be in the region of £92million - for Rice in the coming days. Now, it's worth pointing out that the transfer window officially opens on June 14 and as per FIFA's Transfer Window Calendar, only signings made from Premier League, EFL and Scottish teams can be registered.
Therefore, if Arsenal can agree on a fee with the Hammers for the midfielder between now and Wednesday they would be in a position to register him immediately and thanks to their London rivals being in the Europa Conference League final, there's a chance to accelerate this deal before Rice reports for international duty.
When Gareth Southgate named a 25-man group for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers, a message on Englandfootball.com read: "The majority of the squad will report to St. George's Park to begin their preparations for the games on Monday 12 June, while players involved with their clubs at UEFA European Finals will join at a later date."
It remains to be seen when Rice will link up with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale but the fact he will do so at a later date perhaps grants Arsenal more time to get a deal completed as England's first qualifier is away from home on Friday against Malta before facing North Macedonia next Monday.
Amid an incentive for the Gunners to get their deals done early this summer, if they do manage to sign Rice before the Three Lions' camp wraps up, assuming he heads off on holiday afterwards, it's unlikely he will join up with his new teammates when they return to London Colney for pre-season training at the beginning of July and could also miss their training camp in Nuremberg at Adidas HQ.
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