Declan Rice should join Arsenal and become a crucial part of the team, rather than become a small cog in the Manchester City winning machine, according to Tony Cascarino.
Rice is currently at the centre of a transfer tug-of-war, with the Gunners and City both trying to sign him from West Ham. The Hammers are happy to do business, but only if their £100million asking price is met.
Mirror Football understands that City are yet to bid for the England midfielder because they want assurances that Rice’s heart is in the move first. Arsenal, meanwhile, have recently seen their second bid of £90m plus add-ons rejected by West Ham.
Rice is understood to prefer a move to north London – and former Chelsea striker Cascarino believes that is the right stance. He has pointed to the success of Alisson and Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool as precedents Rice should try to follow.
“If you look at Arsenal, since Mikel Arteta came in December 2019, that season they got 56 points,” Cascarino told talkSPORT. “He hadn’t played a part earlier in the season, the next season they got 61, the next season they got 69. And last year they got 84, so there’s a real upward curve at Arsenal.
“Declan Rice would make the impact that Alisson and Van Dijk made at Liverpool by coming.”
City beat Arsenal to the Premier League title last season before going on to win an historic Treble by claiming the FA Cup and Champions League. Rice recently got his first taste of silverware by helping West Ham win the Europa Conference League, but Cascarino thinks he shouldn’t be drawn in by the prospect of trophies at City.
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“Man City is an easy choice as they could easily win the double next year and maybe more,” he added. “That’s the thing you’ve got to really consider, but how big a part do you really play in that if you go to Manchester City?
“Because it’s not impossible that they could spend £100m and he could be a bit-part player at Man City. Some people might laugh at that, well that’s exactly the first season of Jack Grealish. I do think there is a very high possibility that he won’t play as much football as he would like.”
While a deal for Rice has yet to be struck, Arsenal are poised to announce a £65m transfer for Chelsea forward Kai Havertz. The 24-year-old Germany international is due to be announced next week following a medical over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Gunners are weighing up a £40m bid for Southampton star Romeo Lavia, with midfielders needed as Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey head towards the exit. Xhaka is set to move to Bayer Leverkusen, while Partey favours a transfer to Juventus over the riches of Saudi Arabia.
