- Arsenal register interest in signing Alphonso Davies
- Arsenal ‘explored’ move to sign Bryan Mbeumo this summer
- Arsenal ‘made attempts’ to sign Kingsley Coman this summer
- Arsenal can sign Eberechi Eze for £68m next summer
- Arsenal receive boost to sign Leipzig ace Benjamin Sesko
- Arsenal remain keen on signing Sporting star Viktor Gyokeres
- Arsenal attempted to sign Marcos Leonardo this summer
- Arsenal can sign Victor Osimhen in winter window
- Arsenal eye swoop to sign Brazilian wonderkid Vitor Reis
- Arsenal told Raheem Sterling could be a ‘valuable’ addition
Arsenal are confident to sign Declan Rice next summer
Arsenal are reportedly confident to secure West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice’s signature in the upcoming summer window, as per the CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs.
Despite luring Jorginho away from Chelsea on deadline day this winter, it has widely been reported that the Gunners are looking to bolster their engine room for next season and have identified Rice as their top target.
Fabrizio Romano has recently reported that Rice – who has entered the final 16 months of his current contract and has reportedly rejected several contract proposals to sign an extension with David Moyes’ side – is likely to leave the Hammers at the end of this season.
West Ham have warned multiple times that they don’t want to let the Englishman leave for cheap and want a fee more than the British transfer record – which is £106m – to sell their star man.
However, speaking to GiveMeSport, Jacobs has said that Arsenal are ‘quietly confident’ that they would be able to secure the midfielder’s service next summer and the north London club believe they can broker this deal for a fee of around £75m.
Rice to Arsenal
But, the journalist says that purchasing the midfielder won’t be easy for the Emirates club as they are set to face tough competition from London rivals Chelsea in getting any potential deal done for Rice.
Jacobs has also stated that Arsenal won’t overpay to sign the England international and they are prepared to walk off if the Hammers stay firm on their ‘widely above the odd’ valuation.
Jacobs said:
“I think that suitors like Arsenal and Chelsea, who may even be in the race as well, are quietly confident that they can get a player like Declan Rice for something between £75m and £80m, which sounds like a lot of money, but I think Arsenal see that as value. And I think that summarises how they’ll act in the summer generally.
“It’s not about how much they spend because they will have that financial muscle. It’s about finding value in the market and that’s always been Arsenal’s model.
“I don’t expect that to change regardless of winning the Champions League or the Premier League. They’ve never wanted to put it out there in the market that they’re prepared to spend wildly above the odds, even on a player that they so desperately want.”
So, it is going to be interesting to see whether Arsenal will be able to broker a deal for Rice if the midfielder ends up leaving the London Stadium at the end of this season.