Arsenal have reportedly made an opening offer to sign West Ham captain Declan Rice, with Liverpool interested in the England international.
According to Sky Germany, Mikel Arteta’s side have made a bid worth £70m for the 24-year-old as the Gunners side look to bring the West Ham superstar to north London. As per the report, Liverpool are also chasing Rice but are yet to make their opening move.
Arsenal have established early on that Rice is their main midfield target for the summer with Granit Xhaka expected to leave in the coming weeks for Bayer Leverkusen. And with Liverpool also looking to sign the West Ham skipper, Arteta has set his stool out early.
Lauded as a ‘perfect’ player for Jurgen Klopp’s system by Pat Nevin, Rice is easily one of the best midfielders in the Premier League and a talent who is as complete as they come in the position. And Liverpool missing out on the England international would be quite the blow.
However, with West Ham demanding as much as £120m for Rice, Liverpool could be making a smart play in not making a move just for Rice, with Arsenal no doubt set to be dragged into a bidding war with David Moyes’ side over his most prized asset.
Arsenal could be making a mistake going in for Rice already
Rice is clearly on the move this summer with the midfielder’s time at West Ham potentially coming to a fitting end depending on what happens in the UEFA Europa Conference League final. Yet for Arsenal, making a bid now for the Liverpool target could be a mistake.
As we know, West Ham want big money for Rice, and with £70m well below what the Irons are asking for, Arsenal might have just set themselves up for a long summer of talks with their east London rivals over the deal to bring the midfielder to the Emirates, much to Liverpool’s amusement.