Arsenal have been heavily linked with West Ham United captain Declan Rice in recent months.
The Gunners are enjoying an outstanding season. And whatever happens in the Premier League title race, they will be eager to build on it.
Arsenal could do with bolstering their midfield ranks. At present, they don’t have much strength in depth after Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka.
Meanwhile, Rice is continuing to impress for club and country, and looks ready for a step up to a title-challenging club.
‘Spoken glowingly about Mikel Arteta’
Ben Jacobs has now provided an update on the state of play involving Arsenal – and other suitors – and Rice.
The CBS journalist told GiveMeSport that clubs are hoping they can land the 24-year-old for as little as £75million.
This is despite the Hammers reportedly holding out for a fee of over £100million.
Jacobs also said Arsenal remain “extremely keen” on Rice. Indeed, they may well move fast to beat other suitors to his signature.
“Arsenal remain extremely keen on Declan Rice with West Ham resigned to losing him at the end of the season,” said Jacobs.
“David Moyes has purposefully compared Rice to Enzo Fernandez and said a British transfer record type fee (£107m) is needed to sign him.
“This is normal, and to an extent shows how Chelsea’s January spending has inflated the market.
“But West Ham know that’s an ambitious price tag. And suitors are hoping they can get a deal for significantly less, perhaps even as ‘low’ as £75-80m.
“And if West Ham go down don’t be surprised if interested clubs lowball (them) further.
“Rice has spoken glowingly about Mikel Arteta, wants Champions League football… and, on a personal level, would ideally love to stay in London.”
Jacobs added: “It wouldn’t surprise me if Arsenal try to move quite fast on Rice in order to capitalise on the uncertainty of other suitors.”
Our view
Rice believes he is ‘one of the best in the world’. And there are a lot of people who agree with this statement.
Credit to West Ham for making their transfer stance clear and stressing they won’t let him go for cheap.
Hopefully the Gunners and the Hammers can come to a quick consensus during negotiations over a fee.
The rest should, in theory, be more straightforward. Rice really seems eager to link up with Arsenal.
He would no doubt take the Gunners to the next level and hopefully help turn them into a regular title contender.
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