Welcome to the football.london transfer briefing. To help you keep on top of all things Arsenal going on in the market we've got the latest noises coming from social media, journalists and so-called ITKs, rounding up what's what in the world of the Gunners.
Declan Rice opens up
Declan Rice has continued to stir up uncertainty over just where he will be next season as the West Ham captain opened up to a young fan over his next move in a viral clip on social media. After leading the Hammers to Europa Conference League glory the expectation is that Rice now moves on to pastures new.
In the video the 24-year-old was asked where his ideal next club would be to which he replied: "Nowhere, I'm West Ham." He the reiterated this when pushed some more. "I don't [want to move], West Ham is my one [club]," he replied when quizzed again.
Although there is no defined date of when it was taken, the Tik Tok user Virajplays4 claims it was on Saturday. football.london understands that a strong offer is prepared for the England star with other reports suggesting £92 million ($115m) will make the Hammers split from their star.
football.london says: Rice has been nothing but loyal to West Ham throughout his time. They have offered him a pathway to professional football when others closed the door on him and therefore he was never likely to hold them to ransom or push for a move.
His words in the past week have been emotive and in favour of remaining in east London but money talks and West Ham seem to be in control of his future, which is fine but David Sullivan's comments would look very strange should he not move and it does seem like the perfect time to go.
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Rice is too nice to say he's off anytime soon and it must be a conflicting time as he loves the club but also knows how capable he is of achieving more at another side. It's a tough one to call.
Raphinha price tag set
Arsenal are said to be keen on going back in for Barcelona winger Raphinha after showing extreme interest in the Brazilian last summer. He was close to moving to north London before Chelsea swooped in to make a bigger offer and then Barcelona took him away anyway.
Spanish publication, Sport, now say that the Catalan side would be willing to let him go just one season into his contract in order to balance their finances and potentially open up other incomings. With a price of £68m ($85m) said to be the asking price, that is more than Juan Laporta parted with this sign him from Leeds.
football.london says: Barcelona up to their old tricks again, is it? Raphinha was one of the biggest transfer sagas last summer and frankly, after not only ditching Arsenal late on but also then Chelsea, it must be questioned as to if he knows what he wants or if he is committed to anywhere.
Mikel Arteta wants a connected group without individuals and Raphinha doesn't appear to fit that bill. With the need for a new midfielder much stronger than another winger, this isn't one we can see being pursued too seriously, even if they do admire him as a player.
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