Bayern Munich are prepared to pay a staggering package worth £95million to land Declan Rice from West Ham.
It has signalled the start of the battle for one of the most sought-after players in Europe this summer. Bayern, who retained their German title on Saturday, are determined to beat Arsenal to the signing of 24-year-old Rice.
Chelsea are keen but are desperate to sell players from their bloated squad first to comply with FFP rules. Bayern believe they can beat both to the punch and Thomas Tuchel is understood to have made contact with Rice already - with the England midfielder interested.
Rice has spoken openly about his ambition to play in the Champions League. Bayern's German title is their 11th in a row but they are looking to spend big this summer after being crushed by Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals last month.
West Ham value Rice at more than the Germans are offering and are prepared to reject a bid of that size. Manchester United and Liverpool are also big fans of the European Championship finalist with England in 2021. Both clubs are looking to reinforce in midfield this summer.
Rice, preparing to compete against Fiorentina in next week’s Europa Conference League Final, has shown his consistency this season in a struggling Hammers side. The Prague showdown is set to be his last game for the club but also represents his chance to clinch his first major trophy as captain and the club's first major trophy since 1965.
Mirror Football revealed this week that Rice is expected to inform West Ham that his preference is to move to Arsenal this summer. The Gunners want Rice to replace Granit Xhaka, who looks set to join Bayer Leverkusen.
However, Rice is believed to have held talks with Bayern boss Tuchel in recent days and the lure of joining one of Europe's heavyweights could prove a tempting proposition. It is also unclear at this stage how much Arsenal are willing to pay to land Rice this summer.
The Gunners offered Brighton £70m for Moises Caicedo in January but did not improve that offer after being knocked back twice by the Seagulls. Similarly, Arsenal did not want to pay over the odds for Mykhaylo Mudryk, eventually losing out to Chelsea and instead opting for the cheaper alternative in Leandro Trossard.
Asked about Arsenal's transfer business, Edu insisted he only wanted players who can take the club to the next level. He told ESPN : "It's identifying very well where we can improve. If they are individual, isolated positions, if they are units, if they are 'final third', as we call it here, if they are midfield, defensive part.
"Me and Arteta talking, we believe that we have a level to improve in terms of performance. And now make a good transfer window, understand the need, to hit the athlete, the characteristic, the mentality of the athlete we want, to once again raise the level of our squad."
