Arsenal are standing by with an £85 million bid to sign West Ham United star Declan Rice this summer, according to an inside source for Claret & Hugh.
Who could join Arsenal this summer?
Mikel Arteta, looking to build upon Arsenal's promising 2022/2023 campaign, will have his eyes firmly on the summer transfer market to shore up key positions.
The north Londoners will take real encouragement from just how long they pushed champions Man City, not to mention they were in pole position for much of the campaign.
Having just fell short of winning their first Premier League title in nearly 20 years, it's time for Arsenal to invest and push forward, with sporting director Edu confirming plans are already underway.
"Our planning has already been done," said the Brazilian to ESPN in April (via 90min)."It has already reached the owners. Now, we're taking things step by step. We're focused on how we will finish the season, but we've put in the planning and I'm very excited."
Arsenal are reliably believed to be chasing the signing of a new central midfielder or two, both in more advanced areas and defensively, with Brighton's Moises Caicedo and West Ham's Rice among the primary targets.
Man City captain Ilkay Gundogan and Southampton's Romeo Lavia have also been linked, with West Ham website Claret and Hugh sharing an update on Rice in particular.
According to the outlet, sharing news from an inside source who is even quoted, Arsenal are standing by with an £85 million bid for the 24-year-old.
Commenting on this, an unnamed insider told C&H this is what West Ham are expecting from the Gunners, but there is hope at the London Stadium that an auction can sparked to drive Rice's,price up.
"That is what we believe will be put to us as there appears to be a lack of money around generally this summer," said the key C&H source and Hammers insider on Arsenal's prospective offer.“However, we expect bids from two or three clubs once we play our last game as they respect our season is still very much going on“We would have to hope that clubs such as Manchester United and Chelsea may come in which of course would see the figures rise.”
Who is Declan Rice?
The England international, who has been called "world class" by West Ham's former head of academy recruitment David Hunt, is certainly living up to that tag.
Praised for his performances under both Gareth Southgate and David Moyes, Rice stood out as West Ham's best-performing player by average match rating last season (WhoScored).
He was imperious in the midfield, averaging more interceptions per 90 than any Hammers player in the top flight, but this report suggests he could be an expensive option this summer.
Bayern Munich's presence in the race will only heighten his value further, and it will be interesting to see just how far Arsena are willing to go.