Arsenal want Declan Rice and they appear to have real hope of a deal with Chelsea allegedly cooling their interest in the West Ham United star.
That’s according to the London Evening Standard, who report that Arsenal are now ‘working on a deal’ to sign Rice at the end of the season.
It’s stated that Arsenal made their interest in Rice known during the World Cup and are pressing ahead to try and snap him up.
A deal would allegedly cost between £80million and £100million, which would shatter the Arsenal transfer record for Nicolas Pepe in 2019.
The report adds that Chelsea have actually cooled their interest in signing Rice despite being linked for many years now.
West Ham won’t let Rice leave this month according to The Athletic but have accepted that the midfielder will be moving on in the summer.
Declan Rice would be enormous coup for Arsenal
This would be quite the signing for Arsenal and a real sign of their plans to move forward rapidly under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners are eight points clear in the race for the Premier League title and look set to return to the Champions League.
That will make Arsenal even more attractive to top players and Rice certainly fits the bill.
Arsenal have been linked with holding midfielders for some time now, seemingly seeking competition for Thomas Partey.
Yet with Rice potentially leaving West Ham, Arsenal may be ready to swoop in and make him their new star holding midfielder despite Partey’s displays this season.
Rice is only 24 and appears set for years of dominance as an anchor man in midfield.
This would also be a nice transfer win given that Chelsea just beat Arsenal to Mykhailo Mudryk.
Chelsea may be putting out that they’re cooling their interest in Rice but seeing him sign for Arsenal would surely be difficult to swallow.
We’re still many months away from the summer but if Arsenal can sign Rice, they would be showing that they can be title contenders for years to come.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
