Premier League hegemon Manchester City have officially thrown their hat in the ring for star England midfielder Declan Rice and is set to go head-to-head with Arsenal for the 24-year-old West Ham United captain in a move that could end up seeing Pep Guardiola get one over on former understudy Mikel Arteta.
🚨 EXCL: West Ham have tonight received formal offer from Manchester City to sign Declan Rice. #MCFC proposing deal worth £80m + £10m add-ons after 2nd Arsenal bid of £75m + £15m rejected last week. #AFC pursuit of main target ongoing @TheAthleticFC #WHUFC https://t.co/61GrpGrlrq
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) June 26, 2023
Per The Athletic’s David Ornstein, City submitted their first official bid for Rice after growing speculation in recent days suggested that the club could be set to rival the Gunners for his services after Arsenal failed to secure Rice with either of the two bids they fielded.
City’s offer for Rice, £80m + £10m in add-ons, is only thought to be marginally better than Arsenal’s second bid that was recently rebuffed by West Ham while also virtually being the same overall package according to Jack Rosser.
As things stand, much of the discourse surrounding Rice has yet to change regarding a reported desire to remain in London, his desire to play in the Champions League, and his fondness for the ongoing project at the Emirates under Arteta.
But if any club can turn its head, surely it could be City on the back of their measure of success in the past six seasons that has seen them not only crowned Premier League champion on five occasions, but securing a historic treble in 2022-23 that also included a Champions League win; the first in the club’s history.
From a squad perspective, there could very easily be scope to suggest that Rice would also prefer the Gunners given the guarantee that he would be a vital piece of the puzzle in north London as the key midfield linchpin, whereas for City, questions could possibly surface surrounding his role there despite the departure of İlkay Gündoğan.
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