Manchester City launch Declan Rice as Arsenal face £100m war

Many clubs are interested in Declan Rice. Photo: PA/Gareth Fuller

Manchester City are gearing up to compete with Arsenal in the race for Declan Rice and are known to be preparing an official bid for West Ham United captaincy.

The battle for Rice is turning into a tug-of-war between the three biggest clubs in the country and the top three clubs from last season in the Premier League. International.

West Ham are hopeful that the expected imminent formalization of City's interest will help further raise the price of a player they value at £100m.

Telegraph Sport reported last week that City see Rice as a «strong option» this summer and that West Ham expect more teams to compete against Arsenal for his signature.

City's entry into negotiations will increase pressure on Arsenal to increase their bid after the north London club received a second offer earlier this week rejected by West Ham. Arsenal have made a club-record bid of £90m (£75m plus £15m in surcharges) and continue talks with West Ham as they look to secure their top transfer target for the summer.

Arsenal have been in the lead in signing Rice for a long time and have been known for some time to believe that the 24-year-old wants to move to Emirates Stadium.

However, the prospect of playing for treble-winners Josep Guardiola could still make a difference, and there is no doubt that City have the necessary financial firepower to meet West Ham's demands.

City's desire to sign another midfielder intensified after the departure of captain Ilkay Gundogan, who agreed to join Barcelona on a free transfer.

West Ham unhappy with Arsenal's installment plan

As Telegraph Sport reported earlier this week, United are considering whether to offer Rice a player-plus-cash deal that could to participate Harry Maguire or Scott McTominay.

Hoping for a higher guaranteed fee than the £75m offered by Arsenal earlier this week, West Ham also want a better fee structure. It is understood that Arsenal's offer included a payment spread over five years, which West Ham found unacceptable.

Arsenal want to build a new midfield around Rice and see him as a fundamental part of Mikel Arteta's long-term project at the Emirates Stadium, especially with Granit Xhaka set to leave the club for Germany this summer. Thomas Party may also leave due to interest from Italy and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, City are credited with Rice's versatility. The champions have already agreed with Chelsea to sign Croatian international Mateo Kovacic for £30m, but they also want another top midfielder this summer.

Rice is likely to play one of the two defensive midfields in Guardiola's 3-2-4-1 system, with Kovacic playing a more advanced role.

City's interest also comes amid growing doubts about the Portuguese midfielder's future. Bernardo Silva, who is of great interest to Saudi Arabia and PSG.

Rice's absence would have been a major blow to Arsenal and would have marked the second time this year that a Premier League rival has outbid them on a top goal after Chelsea signed Mihail Mudrik ahead of them in January.

Arsenal may return to Caicedo

In this case, Arsenal have quickly switched to signing Leandro Trossar, who has distinguished himself since his move from Brighton, and if they lose to Rice, they are expected to turn their attention to another Brighton player, Moises Caicedo, as an alternative top-notch centre. midfielder.

Arsenal attempted to sign Caicedo in January this year with a £70m offer for the Ecuador international, but Brighton refused to sell campaigns at the time.

Brighton is now more open to offers, but Arsenal will face serious competition from Chelsea, who are in a better position to sign the 21-year-old. Brighton will demand significantly more than the £70m they denied Arsenal in January.

Meanwhile, Arsenal's transfer to Kai Havertz is expected to be completed in the coming days, with a medical scheduled for this weekend. Arsenal have agreed to pay around £65m for the striker, who can also play as an attacking midfielder.

Arsenal are looking to close their big deals quickly before pre-season. is also in talks with Ajax to sign versatile defender Yurien Timber.

Timber, a 22-year-old Dutch international, could be worth around £40m after Arsenal determined he was capable of playing both right and centre-back as part of Arteta's tactical strategy. system.