Arsenal have been heavily linked with West Ham United’s Declan Rice in recent months.
Fabrizio Romano recently claimed on his YouTube channel that the Gunners remain keen on the England star.
In addition, he said the feeling around Rice is that it’s “time to go” at the end of the season.
Obviously Arsenal are far from the only suitors for the West Ham captain.
Chelsea are apparently also in pursuit of the 24-year-old, along with “many” other clubs, said Romano.
However, Kaya Kaynak recently told GiveMeSport that Rice is “quite excited by the prospect of moving to Arsenal.”
Rice is likely to feature for England when they face Italy in their Euro 2024 qualifier on Thursday.
If the Arsenal target does play, he could come up against fellow midfielder Marco Verratti.
Ahead of the match, the Paris Saint-Germain star was asked about Rice.
PA Sport journalist Mark Mann-Bryans shared Verratti’s response on his Twitter feed.
“He is a number 6, a defensive midfielder that England really need and I’m sure he will end up at a top side,” he said.
“I have played against him many times and he never gives up, has a wonderful attitude and is really young so has room for improvement.”
Step up beckons
Verratti has actually played against Rice once, in the Euro 2020 final.
Nonetheless, he seems to have been particularly impressed by the Hammers midfielder.
Rice is still young and so has plenty of time to truly make his mark on the game, in England and abroad.
The best chance he has of this is to make the step up to a title and Champions League-challenging team.
With that in mind, Arsenal seem like the perfect fit for Rice to achieve this.
The Gunners remain top of the Premier League table and look like they have a bright future ahead of them.
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