Arsenal will table an official opening bid to West Ham United for Midfielder, Declan Rice in the new week as club look to get the deal done in time.
The Gunners are optimistic of their chances as the midfielder prefers to remain in England while positive talks have also been held with the Europa Conference League winners, West Ham.
Rice will leave the London club this summer as confirmed by club Chairman, David Sullivan after the Conference League final in Prague on Wednesday.
74year old Sullivan said; “We promised him he could go. He set his heart on going. It’s not something we want to happen, we offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago, he turned it down.”
Rice is also attracting interest from Bayern Munich but his priority is to remain in England. Mikel Arteta offers that chance for him to achieve that by becoming a part of the project at the Emirates.
The deal expected to command a massive fee albeit Rice has a contract ending next summer with West Ham, the club will want to get the best they can from the deal, knowing the 24year old is a player any club will want in their team.
Arsenal will also be wary of competition in this deal and will hope to reach a mutual ground will The Hammers in time and conclde the deal for their main target of the summer.
Author : Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
