Picture/courtesy: Daily Express
The Gunner's have prioritized signing England International and West Ham's midfielder Declan Rice in the summer. The Premier League leaders are confident of beating their arch rivals Chelsea to the £80m deal.
Rice who is highly expected to leave the London stadium in the summer could be put to sell as he is unwilling to pen down a new deal to extend his current stay at the club.
Manchester United have also shown their interest in the summer which cooled down after West Ham "slapped" £150 million valuation as the total package for the England International.
Chelsea have been seen as the suitors to sign Rice since the 24-year-old played in the Chelsea academy until the age of 14 and his connection with his country-mate and Chelsea's Mason Mount.
The Blues have beaten Arsenal twice to transfers in January going ahead of the Gunners to sign both Joao Felix and Mkyhailo Mudryk. However, according to reports by The Times, the Gunners are growing in confidence that they will be able to sign the West Ham man.
The Gunners are in the market for a midfielder and a left-sided centre-half in the transfer window in the summer and the believe Rice could be the right choice in midfield.
Rice has before expressed his desire to play in the Champions League and Arsenal look to be on the brink of qualifying for the competition for the first time in six years.
Chelsea meanwhile will need to revive their best form if they are eyeing a top four finish. The Blues are sitting at the 10th place, 10 points behind fourth place and 19 behind leaugue leaders Arsenal.
Rice will be a top target for most club in the summer, and it is reported that the midfielder will cost £80million. The Gunners could be preparing an offer for the midfielder, the club's hierarchy have shown that they will not be going to war for transfer targets or be forced into overpaying for players.
Arsenal tabled three offers for Mudryk this month but negotiations didn't breakthrough between them and Shakhtar Donetsk’s. Chelsea moved first to hijack the deal and ended up paying £88 million for the player.
Arsenal also cooled down their interest on signing Atletico's Jaoa Felix on a loan deal since the Spanish side was demanding for a £9m fee for the forward. He ended up joining Chelsea.
Read more:
https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/16/arsenal-make-declan-rice-their-top-summer-target-and-are-confident-of-beating-chelsea-to-80m-deal-18110700/
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