Manchester City will make an official offer for Declan Rice, football.london understands. The England international is the priority midfield target for Arsenal who have had two bids rejected for the 24-year-old so far.
Arsenal have worked for some time behind-the-scenes but have failed, so far, to agree on a fee with West Ham United that they were willing to accept and it has left the door open for a hijack again. Man City are indeed very keen on Rice, as they have been for many years in fact.
The Gunners have shown a willingness to get the deal done, and despite previously hoping Rice’s preference of a move to north London would allow them to secure him for below a triple-million-pound figure, City’s interest is likely to force their hand.
Arsenal missed out on priority January transfer target Mykhailo Mudryk after refusing to go as high as Chelsea. There are significant differences with this move.
Mudryk’s preference to make a switch to the Premier League in January outweighed his preference of Arsenal over Chelsea and he proved unwilling to wait until the summer. Rice’s preference has and continues to be Arsenal, the ball will be in the Gunners’ court to match any fee that Man City reach with the Hammers.
The winners in this scenario, for now, are most certainly West Ham. football.london understands it has always been the strategy of West Ham not to accept any figures below their £100million-plus valuation of Rice early, hoping that the likes of Man City and Manchester United would come in.
READ MORE: Arsenal news and transfers LIVE: Man City prepare Rice bid, £65m Havertz agreement, Partey exit
Bayern Munich pulled out of the deal with Rice’s non-negotiable preference being to remain in the Premier League. Manchester City do not have this restriction but would still need to convince Rice to choose them over the Gunners if indeed Arsenal match anything the Citizens agree with West Ham United.
In the hypothetical scenario that Rice does move to Man City and Arsenal fail to land another key target, it would be disastrous. Even if they landed an alternative such as Moises Caicedo, whose interest Arsenal still have despite cooling throughout the saga for Rice football.london understands, the reputation of Arsenal’s decision-makers regarding transfers would be severely damaged in the eyes of plenty of doubtful supporters.
Mikel Arteta, too, could have fair questions. The Spaniard has maximised the resources available to him and overachieved with a run at the title last season with persistent public calls highlighting a need to improve the group.
If his club cannot deliver the players he wants, questions over his long-term future would not be as farfetched as some could assume. This is, however, hypothetical and Arsenal remain confident of securing a deal for Rice even with the latest revelations on the City side.
