HERE WE GO! Arteta confirms!! £70M star player has finally agreed to join Arsenal on a 4yr deal – personal terms agreed with the club
Arsenal have been heavily linked with West Ham United’s Declan Rice in recent months.
Fabrizio Romano has now handed the Gunners – and all of Rice’s other suitors – a huge boost.
The transfer insider says the feeling around Rice is that it’s “time to go” at the end of the season.
Obviously Arsenal are far from the only suitors for the West Ham captain.
Chelsea are apparently also in pursuit of the midfielder, along with “many” other clubs, said Romano.
“Declan Rice… I can confirm it’s true that many clubs still love Declan Rice,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“He is super-appreciated on the market.
“Arsenal, internally, they really appreciate the player and discussed Declan Rice as one of the players they like in that position.
“Same for Chelsea. We know the connection between Chelsea and Declan Rice, so these clubs have already discussed internally about Declan Rice.
“At the moment, nothing has been discussed with West Ham. A lot will depend on West Ham, how much they will ask in the summer for Declan Rice.
“But the feeling around Declan Rice is very clear: summer 2023 is going to be the opportunity for Declan Rice to try something different.
“I already told you last year that Declan Rice was not going to sign a new deal with West Ham and this is still the case now.
“For Declan Rice, the feeling is: it’s time to go, it’s time to try a different challenge.
“So let’s see how much West Ham will ask on the market for Declan Rice.
“But this summer could be the big opportunity for him to try something new.”
LOOKING PROMISING
Arsenal are already a world-class team, but Rice would take them to the next level.
Aside from being an amazing player, he also has superb leadership skills and is well liked in the dressing room.
And of course, Rice knows the Premier League inside out, so you know he’d hit the ground running.
Last year, Jack Wilshere said Rice was the world’s best defensive midfielder and compared him to Sergio Busquets.
He won’t come cheap, and there could well be a bidding war for him, but Arsenal are well placed to land him.
After all, Rice wouldn’t have to leave London and he’d be playing in a team clearly on the up.
Indeed, Kaya Kaynak recently told GiveMeSport that the player is “quite excited by the prospect of moving to Arsenal.”
Everything seems to be on the right track so fingers crossed.
