Arsenal's interest in both Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo is quite interesting, but something that makes a great deal of sense the stronger the links grow.
Regardless of what happens in this season's Premier League title race, it has become apparent that Mikel Arteta requires a deeper squad in order to get the Gunners challenging again next year - not to mention having Champions League football on offer for the first time since 2017.
As a result, one of the areas Arsenal look set to strengthen in is central midfield and football.london understands Rice is a priority signing ahead of the summer transfer window whilst the club showed strong interest in Caicedo back in January but were unable to reach an agreement with Brighton & Hove Albion.
READ MORE: Arsenal's five deals may reveal deadline for stunning Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo transfers
With Granit Xhaka being tipped for a return to Germany plus the fact that Thomas Partey and Jorginho will both be in their 30s when next season gets underway, it's clear as to why Arteta would be keen on signing both Rice and Caicedo instead of signing one or the other.
The Spaniard does have a preference to sign players that can cover a variety of positions. The perfect example is Oleksandr Zinchenko. Despite being listed as a left-back on the Arsenal teamsheet on a matchday, the Ukraine international is naturally a central midfielder and he often finds himself in those zones during a game.
In Caicedo, the Gunners would be getting a player that predominately plays as a number six but has recently shown his versatility by operating at right-back against Manchester United and at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday which turned out to be bad news for a certain Gabriel Martinelli.
Whereas Rice, who has established himself as one of the Premier League's best holding midfielders at West Ham, has revealed he is more than capable of undertaking more of an attacking box-to-box role, thus making him the ideal replacement for Xhaka if the Switzerland international departs.
"I think a lot of people see me as a simple, basic player who gets it, gives it and protects the back four," he told Sky Sports back in 2021. "I know, my teammates know and the manager knows what I’ve got in my locker. I want to show that I can be exciting and I can take the ball forward.
"I have great athleticism. I've been watching the top players over the years, the Yaya Toures, the [Patrick] Vieiras. There’s a long way to go to get to that level."
Additionally, not only would Rice cover two positions in midfield, he could also be an option in central defence having initially broken into the West Ham side playing there. Now it's well documented that Arsenal have struggled in William Saliba's absence so perhaps the England international could effectively be the backup choice in case of an emergency.
Last, but by no means least, Rice would bring leadership qualities to Arsenal and that's despite only being 24 years of age. He became the Hammers' permanent captain following Mark Noble's retirement in May 2022 and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him wearing the armband for the Gunners at some point if he joined.
After all, Arteta has quietly built an impressive young leadership group at the club with nine of the last 14 players he's signed all aged 23 or younger at the time of their arrival at the Emirates Stadium with the Spaniard seeing a leader in Martin Odegaard long before appointing the Norwegian as captain
"I think we are building some leadership in the group," he said when speaking to the club's official website over a year ago. "It's a really young group, with a lot of players under 23. Martin is the captain of the national team and Sambi was the captain at Anderlecht."
An expensive package deal if the Gunners are able to pull it off, but Rice and Caicedo are two players that would raise the level of the first-team squad immediately should they sign and their ability to fill four or five positions between them makes the idea of this double deal understandably an exciting prospect.
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