West Ham skipper Declan Rice remains the top priority for Arsenal this summer, and talks have taken place with the midfielder, as per Fabrizio Romano.
The 24-year-old will enter the final year of his contract at the end of the season, although the Hammers have the option to extend it for another year. David Moyes has suggested recently that Rice could leave the club, but any potential suitor will have to pay a premium fee to sign him.
Romano claims that the Gunners now plan to prepare an official bid for the 41-cap England international in the next few weeks but it won’t be easy to lure him away because West Ham do not want to discuss Rice’s situation before June.
The Guardian journalist says that conversations have taken place between Arsenal and Rice, while Mikel Arteta and Edu spoke about him internally back in January.
The Gunners are likely to face competition from the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, as per Romano. Bild journalist Christian Falk has reported that Bayern Munich are also interested in Rice, but they have a slim chance of bringing him to the Bundesliga.
Xhaka exit could pave the way
The Times reported earlier this week that Arsenal have given the green light to Arteta to complete double deals for Rice and Moises Caicedo. And it seems, the Gunners are ready to make the first move to lure Rice away from West Ham.
Arsenal may need to sell a host of players to balance the books and one of them is Granit Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder is set to leave the club in the summer, and Romano claims that there will not be any talks between Arsenal and the player regarding a new contract.
Bayer Leverkusen are now in very advanced talks to sign Xhaka, and his departure could pave the way for Rice’s arrival. Leverkusen want to wrap up the deal early for Xhaka, and the Gunners will look to get the best deal possible.
At the moment, it looks like Arsenal are leading the race for Rice’s signature, but Chelsea and United can also pose stiff competition. As per ESPN, it will require a fee of around £100m to lure Rice away from the London Stadium, but the Gunners will hope that they can reduce the asking price
