Arsenal are expected to make a bid of more than £90million for Declan Rice football.london understands. The England international has been the priority target for the Gunners this summer and the club are moving to secure the midfielder early in the window.
The move represents many aspects of Arsenal’s evolution as a club who since 2019 have been unwilling to break their record-setting move for Nicolas Pepe which cost the club, painfully in retrospect, £72million. The closest deal being Ben White’s £50million transfer in 2021, still more than £20million off their record.
Despite this and the absence of Pepe from their push to become title challengers, Arsenal have progressed both on and off the pitch but it has not come without disappointment in the two arenas. On the field, the title race ended in disappointment as injuries took their toll on a squad deemed too short to take on the might of subsequent treble-winners Manchester City.
Off the field, two attempts to come close to and beyond their transfer record were stunted in the January transfer window. Moises Caicedo was a target that has persisted into this summer but Brighton rejected several offers topping out at £70million.
Whilst Chelsea hijacked a record-breaking move for Ukrainian international Mykhailo Mudryk. Although in reflection this might have been something of a blessing in disguise with the winger’s respective struggles since.
Arsenal pursued the Mudryk deal for some time with discussions beginning well ahead of the January window. After failing to secure it quickly, the door was opened for Chelsea who went on to win the race.
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This has been a lesson Edu and the club are looking to learn from. With the summer transfer window not yet open it appears that the first offer, which would be well above the club’s record, for Declan Rice aims to get the deal done immediately.
According to The Guardian, Arsenal are now indeed close to agreeing the fee with West Ham. Many have questioned why the club haven’t made the official offer yet despite the UEFA Europa Conference League being over but the reality is the Gunners are looking to agree the price with the Hammers before submitting the offer.
Mikel Arteta will hope to have Rice through the door and with the squad for the trip to Germany and the start of the club’s preseason next month. Rice is currently with the England national team and Arsenal stars Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale.
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