27 June 2023 , 20:11
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Manchester City will continue to try and sign Declan Rice - despite confirming the arrival of Mateo Kovacic.
Kovacic, 29, became City's first signing of the summer transfer window on Tuesday after the ex-Chelsea star penned a four-year contract at the Etihad Stadium. The European champions have coughed up around £34million for his signature - just a day after Ilkay Gundogan left to join Barcelona.
Although City have signed one midfielder in the form of Kovacic, they do not intend to stop there. Mirror Football understands that City's move for Kovacic does not impact their pursuit of Rice. They will still attempt to lure the England international to make the switch up north, rather than stay in London.
West Ham have turned down one offer in the region of £90m from City as Guardiola tries to further strengthen his midfield this summer. However, Arsenal are also firmly in the race to sign the 24-year-old, who has one year left on his contract, although the Hammers do have an option to extend it until 2025. The Gunners have already seen two offers rejected by David Moyes' men but are readying a third bid.
Rice had his mind set on a move to Arsenal, before City made a late swoop following Gundogan's exit on Monday. Guardiola's side might have thought they would quickly be in pole position - but only matched Arsenal's second offer worth £90m even though the structure of the deal would have been more appealing.
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However, West Ham are expected to demand over £100m for Rice, and that would make him the most expensive English player of all-time. He would jump above Jack Grealish after he made the big-money switch to City from Aston Villa in 2021, while Enzo Fernandez's £106m move to Chelsea in January is the Premier League's record buy.
Declan Rice could leave West Ham this summer (Getty Images)City are not resting on their laurels despite winning the treble earlier this month - and want to continue to be active in the transfer market. Guardiola's side earned a 1-0 win over Inter Milan to lift the Champions League for the first time on June 10, having previously won the FA Cup and the Premier League.
Guardiola is also ready to bolster his defence this summer. City are working on a move to sign RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol - but the German club want £85m for the Croatian. Guardiola is a huge admirer of Gvardiol, who starred at the World Cup last year as Croatia reached the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, further City stars could follow Gundogan out of the exit door. Riyad Mahrez has been linked with a switch to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli, while Joao Cancelo, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva and Kalvin Phillips could all leave before the end of the transfer window.