Man City ‘pull out of race’ to sign Declan Rice

Manchester City have pulled out of the race for Declan Rice, it has been claimed.

According to Daily Mail football writer Jack Gaughan, Arsenal’s £105million bid has seen City pull out of the race to sign Rice.

On Tuesday Arsenal made a third bid for Rice worth £100million up front plus £5million in add ons. The offer smashes Arsenal’s £72million transfer record, which they paid Lille for Nicolas Pepe back in 2019.

Rice is Arsenal’s primary target for the summer window and reportedly the player’s preferred destination.

However, the 24-year-old has naturally attracted interest from elsewhere. Earlier this month Premier League champions Manchester City offered £80million up front, plus £10million in add-ons for the England midfielder.

However Pep Guardiola's side have now reportedly pulled out of the race.

West Ham's Rice valuation

West Ham’s valuation of Rice reportedly remains £120million, but Sky Sports claim the club would accept £100million plus a player for their club captain.

It has been widely reported that Arsenal will have to negotiate the structure of their new record-breaking offer for Rice.

Indeed, West Ham allegedly want the guaranteed fee paid up front in a shorter time-frame. The total amount of the deal - £105m - is not expected to be an issue, however.

Rice will almost certainly leave West Ham in the close season, having captained the club to their first European trophy in 58 years.

Hammers chairman David Sullivan admitted a gentleman's agreement means Rice can leave the east London outfit despite a year remaining on his contract, with the option to extend it by a further 12 months.

Rice has been ever-present in the West Ham side since his breakthrough season in 2017-18. He took over the captaincy after Mark Noble's retirement last year.

The midfielder has played 50 games in all competitions last term as West Ham finished 14th in the Premier League and claimed the Europa Conference League.

Rice has played over 200 games for West Ham and earned 41 caps for England since his international debut in 2019.

Topics: Football, Declan Rice, West Ham United, Arsenal, Manchester City

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.