With the season officially over eyes have now turned to the summer transfer market. Having ran Manchester City close for the Premier League title last time out, Arsenal know this summer is going to be vital as they seek to close the gap.
"This summer is crucial, I would say," Mikel Arteta told football.london last month. "To go to the next level is going to be a crucial summer for us."
As they seek to do that central midfield is one of the areas they are looking to strengthen. Granit Xhaka is expected to complete a move to Bayer Leverkusen, and football.london understands that Arsenal are targeting Declan Rice as his replacement.
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Arsenal are preparing a bid for the England international, but they want to be respectful to West Ham who are playing Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday night. A first formal offer is expected to be submitted after that, with Rice hoping to secure the Hammers a European trophy as his parting gift.
There is thought to be a distance in valuation between West Ham and Arsenal right now. David Moyes has stated that it would take an English record transfer fee to secure Rice, while the Gunners are hopeful of securing him for less than that.
With Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United all interested though, Edu would like to move to secure the deal quickly. The earliest he would officially be able to complete the deal is Wednesday, June 14, when the domestix transfer window opens. Rice will be away on England duty at this time ahead of their trip to Malta on June 16, so there is a possibility the transfer may have to wait even further until after the Three Lions' camp wraps up with a Euros qualifier against North Macedonia at Wembley on June 19.
Rice is likely to head off on holiday after that. Presuming that he does complete a move to Arsenal, it's unlikely that he will join up with the Gunners squad when they return to London Colney for pre-season training at the beginning of July. He could also miss their training camp in Nuremberg at Adidas HQ.
Assuming the deal is completed relatively early in the window, the earliest Arsenal fans may be able to see Rice in an Arsenal shirt is when they travel to the United States of America for their pre-season tour. Out in the States Arsenal will take on an MLS All Stars XI in Washington on July 20, before facing Manchester United in New York on July 23. They will then round off the tour with a game against Barcelona in LA before heading back to England for the Community Shield against Manchester City and the Emirates Cup all prior to the Premier League season getting back underway on August 12.
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