So, Declan Rice has joined up with the England squad after all.
This is somewhat of a surprise given a message on Englandfootball.com after Gareth Southgate named a 25-man group for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers which 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."
Having featured for West Ham United just last Wednesday in the Europa Conference League final win over Fiorentina, Rice was effectively granted extra time off alongside Manchester City's Champions League winners in Kyle Walker, John Stones, Kalvin Phillips and Phil Foden.
Amid interest from Arsenal, as Mikel Arteta's priority signing this summer, there was a chance for a deal to be accelerated within the next couple of days especially with the transfer window officially opening on June 14 and as per FIFA's Transfer Window Calendar, that only signings made from Premier League, EFL and Scottish teams can be registered.
However, a tweet via England's official account on Monday morning revealed that the 24-year-old had reported for international earlier than expected as images emerged of the midfield greeting the likes of James Maddison as well as Gunners duo Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale.
Of course, Rice's interactions sparked a transfer frenzy among some Arsenal supporters on social media. At the same time, his decision may mean that the north London outfit have to wait until after England's camp wraps up next Monday to move this potential £92m transfer along.
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Although, his decision to effectively forgo a mini-holiday will almost certainly sit well with the Arsenal manager, who has previously outlined that the best players in the world should be able to play up to 70 games per season.
"Look at the top players in the world. They play 70 matches every three days and make the difference and win the game," the Spaniard said when speaking about Saka following the 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League group stages last October. "You want to be at the top, you have to be able to do that.
"And if we start to put something different in the mind of a young player, I think we are making a huge mistake because then [he would] be like, ‘no, I don’t play now, on astroturf I don’t play’. I don’t want that. I want them to be ruthless every three days. I want them knocking on my door [saying] I want to play, I want to win the game.
The fact that Rice has placed himself in contention to line up for England against Malta on Friday after barely any rest, maybe a clear indication that he would do the same for Arsenal thus meaning he has already met Arteta's one condition for a transfer and now it's just up to the two clubs to make his dream a reality.
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