Arsenal have been the longstanding favourites to sign West Ham United’s Declan Rice but now it looks like the Gunners have a proper battle on their hands.
Arsenal have already seen two of their official bids rejected by the Hammers because it has fallen short of their demands and to make it even worse, it is being claimed that Manchester United are also keen to land the 24-year-old and will challenge the Gunners in this transfer battle.
Mikel Arteta’s side have been preparing a third bid for Declan Rice but before they can make their move, treble-winners Manchester City have joined the bandwagon as well and many experts now believe City are the favourites to sign the England international.
Speaking on Sky Sports, journalist Paul Gilmour has claimed that Arsenal and Man City are about to get into a bidding war for Declan Rice but Pep’s side is confident they will be able to lure the midfielder in.
Gilmour has said: “Yeah, they both want the player, Manchester City, we’re told, are confident of getting him.
“They are willing to pay £75m plus £15m in two instalments. Arsenal remain in talks with West Ham, but West Ham are holding out and they are quite happy that these two clubs are bidding over Declan Rice, and they would like a bidding war, it suits the selling club in this case.
“Arsenal are still very much in the mix we’re told, but Manchester City are very confident of getting him.”
How are the three interested teams doing to try and sign the midfielder?
Arsenal are obviously going to make that third official bid and according to Arsenal Informer, the Gunners have recently held a meeting regarding this particular matter.
Edu, Tim Lewis and Vinai Venkatesham were some of the key personnel present in the meeting and one key point of discussion was the correct payment structure for Rice’s transfer so that West Ham United cannot reject them.
The Hammers want around £100-105 million for Declan Rice and Manchester City have no issues in meeting this fee. Also, they have just won the treble so it’s very natural that if they can get the fee right then Guardiola won’t have to do too much to convince the midfielder.
It’s very clear that it is a race between Arsenal and Man City but Manchester United can turn out to be the dark horse in this transfer race because they are planning to make a cash-plus-players offer for Declan Rice.
As per the rumours, United are willing to pay cash plus send Harry Maguire and McTominay to West Ham United and if the Hammers agree to this deal, Moyes will be able to save a lot of money.
It is still a tough ask but Man United’s offer looks really tempting for West Ham and if Ten Hag can somehow convince Rice to join them over Arsenal or Man City then we will have a proper three-way battle on our hands.
Which move is best suited for Declan Rice?
Declan Rice wants to move out because primarily he wants to win trophies and if this ambition is true then there’s only one destination for him.
Arsenal and Manchester United are both back in the Champions League but Man City ended the 22/23 season with a treble and they are leaps and bounds ahead at the moment.
United and Arsenal will need at least two or three good seasons before they can even catch up with Guardiola’s team but at the Etihad Stadium, Declan Rice is guaranteed to win silverware, instantly.
All three sides can guarantee regular starts to the midfielder next season so playtime won’t be a problem which is why we think, it’s eventually going to come down to two factors, wages and the promise of trophies.
