Man City make £100m Declan Rice demand as Arsenal prepare third transfer bid
Manchester City want assurances from Declan Rice that he wants to join them before launching an official bid for the £100million-rated West Ham midfielder.
Arsenal are preparing a third offer, which is understood to meet the Hammers’ valuation, having seen a second bid of £90m plus add-ons rebuffed by their London rivals. Bayern Munich ended their own interest in signing Rice after being told he wanted a move to the Emirates.
But Pep Guardiola is determined to beat his former assistant Mikel Arteta to land the England midfielder after losing out-of-contract captain Ilkay Gundogan to Barcelona. City are aware that London-born Rice has been expecting to move to the Emirates for months after West Ham assured him they would not stand in his way.
And the Hammers are confident that a bid of £100m is on its way from at least one of the interested parties. City will not make a bid for Rice, however, if he remains steadfast in his desire to join the Gunners.
Arsenal’s financial department are understood to be working hard to restructure the second offer they presented to satisfy West Ham’s demands. But it isn’t as straightforward as just adding another few million pounds as daily interest rate changes can mean the structure of payments has to be altered.
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City are armed with a £300m war chest after hitting the biggest financial jackpot in the history of football with their Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup clean sweep. The Blues also raised close to £200m in player sales last summer — and will be quids in again this year.
They will listen to offers for £60m-rated defender Aymeric Laporte and £42m England midfielder Kalvin Phillips. Laporte’s departure will pave the way for City to sign RB Leipzig’s Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol.
And they will demand £70m for Bernardo Silva if the Portuguese midfielder asks to join Barcelona, Paris St Germain or cash-rich Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal. City broke the British transfer record when they signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa two years ago — and won’t be afraid to match that outlay again for the right player.
Declan Rice has a big decision to make this summer window (Getty Images)They feel offering the chance to play under Guardiola is compelling — and Rice would also be joining England team-mates Grealish, John Stones, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Phillips. City have already invested £25m to bring in midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea.
And they are preparing to splash another £75 million-plus to bring in RB Leipzig's powerful Croatian centre-back Josko Gvardiol if they find a buyer for Laporte. Tottenham are interested.
But Guardiola wants to add another stellar name to his squad after telling club bosses that he wants to go again after last season’s Treble triumph. The Gunners, meanwhile, are closing in on Ajax defender Jurrien Timber and retain an interest in Brighton's Moises Caicedo.
They also hope to officially announce the £65million capture of Kai Havertz from Chelsea in the next 48 hours after he underwent a medical over the weekend.
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