Pep Guardiola believed that Declan Rice could have developed into a world-class multi-functional midfielder if had joined Manchester City this summer.
City had joined Arsenal in bidding for the West Ham midfielder following an outstanding campaign for David Moyes’ side. The Hammers have already received four bids for their star player, with City submitting one and the Gunners three.
Arsenal are back in pole position having submitted an offer worth a whopping £105million for Rice on Tuesday night. That came after City tabled an offer of £80m plus £10m in add-ons to try and prise the 24-year-old from Arsenal’s grasp.
City’s initial approach was rejected by the Hammers and BBC Sport has reported that the club will not go as high as Arsenal have now. Former Lionesses forward Eni Aluko has suggested that City never wanted Rice and only bidded as part of an effort to drive up the price.
But The Athletic reports that Guardiola is a big admirer of the England star and wanted to sign him in a bid to reshape his midfield. City have already completed the £25m signing of Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea, but with captain Ilkay Gundogan leaving for Barcelona and Kalvin Phillips linked with a move away, further signings are needed in midfield.
City wanted Kovacic and Rice as part of Guardiola’s plan to continue their dominance in the 2023/24 season. After winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League last season, Guardiola wants to evolve his squad.
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Rice has established himself as a world-class holding midfielder at West Ham, while he performs a similar role for England. However, City already have Rodri in that position, while John Stones has increasingly been used in a hybrid role which sees him step into midfield while in possession.
That would have meant a higher role for Rice, who has the engine and passing skills to play in a more box-to-box role. Guardiola likes players capable of performing several different roles and believes Rice has the ability and intelligence to adapt to become a multi-faceted player in the middle of the pitch.
With Arsenal pushing hard for Rice, it may well be now that City need to move on to other targets to fulfil Guardiola’s wishes. Kovacic offers the control Guardiola craves in midfield, due to his accurate passing style, but the 29-year-old perhaps lacks the cutting edge in the final third.
Positional intelligence, technical ability and the temperament to follow instructions are what Guardiola seeks from his midfielders. Despite moving to a system which fields four central defenders at the back, Guardiola does not want to leave his side short at the back in transition.
That means that his midfield needs to be extremely disciplined in their positional sense. Bursting runs in the box and long shots are not nearly as important as the more subtle elements Guardiola values most highly. It remains to be seen in which direction City turn if Arsenal are successful in landing Rice in the coming weeks.
