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.
On Tuesday Arsenal saw a second bid for their No.1 summer target Rice, rejected by West Ham. The latest offer reportedly featured a £75million fee upfront, plus £15million worth of add-ons, which the Hammers did not view as achievable.
According to the Independent, West Ham are insisting the total value of Arsenal’s bid for Rice must meet their £100million valuation.
The Gunners will reportedly make another bid for the England international, and the feeling is they are getting closer to striking a deal, with Mikel Arteta hoping to complete the signing before his squad’s summer pre-season tour.
Manchester City are also said to be interested in Rice, should İlkay Gündoğan not sign a new deal, while Chelsea are said to be monitoring the situation.
With Arteta hoping to make several changes to their squad, there are likely to be several outgoings should they sign Rice.
According to the Independent, Arteta could oversee over £200million of expenditure this summer as the club targets Rice, Chelsea's Kai Havertz, Southampton's Romeo Lavia and Ajax's Jurrien Timber.
In turn, Arsenal are likely to offset that spending with sales.
The publication claim the club is prepared to listen to offers for the likes of Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey and then one of Nketiah and Folarin Balogun, with the Gunners eager to keep one as cover in attack.
While Balogun’s departure would come as little surprise to Arsenal fans, Nketiah’s departure would turn more heads, given the attacker proved himself a reliable understudy to Gabriel Jesus this term.
Should Rice join the Gunners, the England international would become the club’s record signing, beating the £72m Arsenal paid for Nicolas Pepe in 2019.
The 24-year-old lifted the Europa Conference League trophy with West Ham earlier this month, and after the game owner David Sullivan said he believed that was the skipper’s last Hammers outing.
Topics: Football, Eddie Nketiah, Arsenal, Premier League, Declan Rice