Arsenal have been told by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano that they need to move fast if they want to sign West Ham United captain Declan Rice this summer.
The north London outfit are keen to strengthen their midfield during the summer transfer window and Rice is their priority target. football.london understands that the Gunners are confident they have a strong offer for the England international but feel that it will ultimately come down to the player to decide amid interest from several other elite European clubs, including the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
Mikel Arteta's side are keen to avoid a bidding war and they’ve demonstrated in the past that they are willing to walk away from top targets, as seen during their pursuits of Lisandro Martinez and Mykhailo Mudryk - who eventually joined United and Chelsea respectively. Now, transfer insider Romano has claimed that Arsenal must move fast if they want Rice to be playing in their red-and-white strip next season, with the Red Devils' ongoing takeover talks potentially throwing a spanner in the works.
Speaking on the Here We Go Podcast, the Italian said: "I really hope for Arsenal fans that this is fast. Sometimes for Arsenal, and it’s not about Edu or Arteta, it’s about the owners, sometimes to do big signings you need the approval of the owners.
"We have seen in the past with the Mykhailo Mudryk deal and the Gabriel Jesus deal other clubs tried to come in at the end like Tottenham and Chelsea, Arsenal protected that with Edu and his Brazilian connections. Sometimes Arsenal are too slow due to the owners when it comes to big names.
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"In this case they have to be fast, the timing is going to be crucial. We don’t know what will happen with Manchester United, maybe next week they will have new owners and who knows what happens?
"Maybe they enter the situation where their presence is unexpected. Being fast in this moment of the market is absolutely important."
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe have been battling for almost a year to buy United from the Glazer family, who have been in charge of the Manchester-based club since 2005.
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