Arsenal make £80m Declan Rice their top summer target and are willing to break their transfer record to land the West Ham star… with Gunners chiefs confident they can beat Chelsea to sign him after losing out on Felix and Mudryk to the Blues
- Mikel Arteta has identified Declan Rice, 24, as Arsenal’s primary summer target
- Rice is likely to leave West Ham this summer in pursuit of European football
- Sources suggest Arsenal are confident they can beat fellow admirers Chelsea
- Rice was a youth player at Chelsea before he was released by club at age of 14
Declan Rice is emerging as Arsenal’s priority transfer target this summer with Mikel Arteta prepared to break the club’s transfer record to sign the England international.
West Ham captain Rice is set to leave the London Stadium this summer, with the Hammers wanting a deal worth £100million – though there looks little hope of the east London club receiving that fee.
Chelsea, who recently beat the Gunners to the signing of Shakhtar Donetsk forward Mykhailo Mudryk, were thought to be in pole position to sign Rice this summer.
Arsenal are leading the hunt for midfielder Declan Rice, with West Ham resigned to losing him
However, the Gunners and Chelsea will once again go head-to-head for a high-profile player this summer as they battle it out to sign Rice.
Sources have indicated to Sportsmail that Arsenal believe they are well placed to beat their London rivals to Rice’s signature this summer.
Rice has continued to speak of his desire to play Champions League football. Arsenal, barring a total capitulation of their season, will regain their Champions League status.
As it stands, Chelsea are struggling to finish in the top four; they are currently 10th and 10 points adrift of the Champions League places.
The midfielder looks set to depart the east London club this year in search of European football
Arsenal’s transfer record stands at £72million, the sum the paid to sign Nicolas Pepe from Lille in 2019.
The north London outfit currently lead the Premier League by eight points having only lost once and drawn twice in their 18 games so far this season.
Rice, 24, has established himself as one of the Premier League’s foremost players at West Ham and is a key part of Gareth Southgate’s England set up.
While at the World Cup, Rice spoke openly of his desire to play at the top level in the game, making the point that you only get ‘one’ career.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are reportedly confident that they’ve taken the lead in the race for Rice
‘I see my friends who play in the Champions League, winning the big trophies,’ he said prior to England’s last-16 tie with Senegal.
‘You only get one career and at the end of your career you want to look at what you’ve won.’
Having turned down a number of contract offers, expectation at West Ham is that he will leave this summer with his current deal only running until 2024.
It was reported that interest in the midfielder last summer cooled as a result of West Ham demanding close to £150m for the player. Manchester United, for one, had enquired over his availability.
Arsenal climbed eight points clear at the top of the table after their 2-0 victory against Spurs
In January 2021, when Chelsea’s interest in the player first came to the fore, David Moyes, the West Ham manager, said it would take Bank of England and Bank of Scotland money to persuade the east London club to sell.
‘No matter who was the manager at Chelsea, or whoever came in, it would have been the same answer,’ Moyes said.
‘I said it right at the start and I’m only repeating myself – Bank of England money would be required, and you might even need to add Bank of Scotland on to that as well because he has been so good.’
