Arsenal’s primary midfield target for the summer is West Ham captain Declan Rice, and they want to make an offer for him in June
According to reports, the Gunners’ primary midfield target for the summer is West Ham captain Declan Rice, and they want to make an offer for him in June.
Dean Jones reports that Arsenal will make an offer for Rice early in the forthcoming transfer window. Mikel Arteta wants to strengthen his central midfield position, and Rice is now the obvious top target.
Arsenal might be early spenders in the summer market if they satisfy West Ham’s demands for their club captain, Declan Rice, with TeamTalk recently stating that the Gunners could have to pay as much as £100m to capture Rice.
Yes, Rice is an ideal long-term successor for Thomas Partey or Granit Xhaka, and a price of £100 million would be remarkable, but few supporters would think the money would be wasted.
A source claims that Arsenal is intending to make a bid for Rice as soon as the month of June, which is encouraging news for the club’s numerous fans who are eagerly anticipating the next summer transfer market.
What will Arsenal do?
Jones said on Arsenal’s opening bid: “They won’t let go of this without making a strong attempt at getting Declan Rice. It’s not yet clear when they’ll look to make their opening offer, but I would imagine it’s going to be around June time that they’ll look to make their first moves with this transfer, just so they understand exactly where they stand.”
Arsenal was one of the few teams last summer to have the bulk of their business done before their preseason tour even began. The Gunners signed Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, and Oleksandr Zinchenko before leaving for Florida. And a similar strategy with Rice will have a tremendous impact.
For the Gunners, having Arteta complete deals early and give new players as much time as possible to acclimatize has been crucial to their success this season, and if he can achieve the same results with Rice, it could be monumental in another significant year for the club in north London.
