Declan Rice is dreaming of a move to Arsenal – but West Ham United may ask for Emile Smith Rowe in exchange.
West Ham United are now interested in taking Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe as part of a deal for Declan Rice.
That is according to The Sun, Rice has completely set his heart on a move to Arsenal.
Rice won the Europa Conference League with West Ham on Wednesday night, captaining his side to a 2-1 win over Fiorentina.
That seems to be Rice’s final game for West Ham with The Telegraph reporting that Arsenal are formulating a £92million offer.
West Ham may not want straight cash though, as it’s now claimed that they fancy a deal involving playmaker Smith Rowe.
The report suggests that West Ham boss David Moyes is a keen admirer of Smith Rowe and would love to take him to East London.
Mikel Arteta is ‘reluctant’ to sell Smith Rowe though and Arsenal would take some convincing to strike this deal.
Arsenal must not sell Emile Smith Rowe
We can understand why West Ham are interested in snapping up Smith Rowe.
The 22-year-old has shown real quality as an attacking midfielder, even leading to Arteta hailing him as an ‘incredible player’.
Smith Rowe has caused problems cutting in from the left side or as a central attacking midfielder – roles he could play at West Ham.
Smith Rowe failed to start a single Premier League game last season and some think that he could be phased out of the club amid injury concerns.
From Arsenal’s perspective though, they would be wasting a top talent if they sell Smith Rowe.
Whilst Smith Rowe hasn’t developed like Bukayo Saka, he can still make a real impact when fit.
Fabio Vieira seemed to eat into Smith Rowe’s minutes this season, but few can really claim that he showed more than Smith Rowe has in the Arsenal side.
Maybe sending Smith Rowe on loan to West Ham for a year can make everyone happy, helping Arsenal sign Rice whilst still keeping him as Gunner for the coming years.
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