Arsenal have been heavily linked with West Ham United and England star Declan Rice in recent months.
Fabrizio Romano recently claimed on his YouTube channel that the Gunners remain keen on the England star.
In addition, he said the feeling around Rice is that it’s “time to go” at the end of the season.
As well as Arsenal, the likes of Chelsea are reportedly eyeing the 24-year-old.
However, the Gunners – and any other suitors – likely won’t be getting Rice for cheap.
David Moyes recently claimed the midfielder would set back a British transfer record fee.
That would mean upwards of £107million, which is roughly what Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez in January.
‘The message it would send out’
Charles Watts, Goal.com’s Arsenal correspondent, reckons the Gunners will try to land Rice for less than that.
He also said he thought Rice to Arsenal would be the biggest signing for the north Londoners since Sol Campbell.
Watts said only Mesut Ozil’s move to the Emirates from Real Madrid would still be bigger than Rice to Arsenal.
“I just watched that game (Italy v England) and thought that he would be such a fantastic signing for Arsenal if it does happen,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“It won’t be easy and it will cost a lot of money. We’ve heard time and time again from West Ham that it will take a British record fee for Declan Rice.
“Whether that will happen remains to be seen. But I’m pretty sure that Arsenal will try to get him for much cheaper than that.
“I honestly think if Arsenal sign Declan Rice this summer it would be the biggest signing Arsenal have made, maybe Mesut Ozil comes before this.
“But it would be the biggest signing since Sol Campbell in terms of the teams they have to beat to sign him and the stature of the player right now.
“If they could get this deal done, the message it would send out would say an awful lot about where Arsenal are and how they have moved forwards in a short space of time.”
Uncertainty
Arsenal are already a world-class team, but Rice would take them to the next level.
Aside from being an amazing player, he also has superb leadership skills and is well liked in the dressing room.
And of course, Rice knows the Premier League inside out, so you know he’d hit the ground running.
We’ll see what happens in the summer. There’s still so much to play for, particularly near the bottom of the table.
West Ham are currently in the bottom three, but they are just three points away from 12th place.
Sure, they could be relegated, which would all-but guarantee a move away for Rice.
However, the Hammers could just as easily stay up, win the Europa Conference League and contest the Europa League next term.
In other news, Forget Rice: Arsenal should splash the cash on 22-year-old Klopp wants at Liverpool- Our View
