Declan Rice has arrived at St. George's Park for England duty as the West Ham United captain continues to be linked with a summer transfer to Arsenal.
The 24-year-old is the north London outfit's priority target for the summer window, football.london understands as Mikel Arteta looks to bolster his options in the centre of the park as the Spaniard attempts to close the gap on Premier League champions Manchester City. football.london understands that the Gunners are confident they have a strong offer for Rice but they also feel that it will ultimately come down to the player to decide his next step amid interest from several other top European sides, including the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
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 deals for their top targets, such as Lisandro Martinez and Mykhailo Mudryk - who signed for United and Chelsea respectively. Now, England's official Twitter page has posted pictures of Rice arriving at the training ground ahead of fixtures against Malta and North Macedonia.
"Look who's arrived at SGP! (Star eyes emoji) (Hands raised emoji) @_DeclanRice," their tweet read alongside pictures of Rice embracing Arsenal duo Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka, which of course sent Gunners supporters into a transfer frenzy.
READ MORE: Arsenal news and transfers LIVE: Declan Rice decision, Moises Caicedo plea, Castagne talks
Here is what a select few said on Twitter.
@Know_fpl: "Rambo and Saka meeting there (sic) new teammate."
@Gunnerbirat1: "Cant wait to see DEC in red and white.....Huge signing on the line (Egg timer)."
@Phunkin_El: "Aaron and Bukayo we see that (Bicep emoji) (Red emoji) (White emoji)."
@AfcLicks: "Wow so many Arsenal players (Heart eyes emoji)."
@GreyyArsenal: "Admin knows what he’s doing…"
@N5Dizla: "@BukayoSaka87 get to work son x."
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