The path has been cleared for Declan Rice to seal his preferred move to Arsenal after Manchester City dropped out of the intensifying bidding war for the West Ham captain.
The Gunners have seen their latest £105m offer rejected despite meeting the valuation placed on the England midfielder. The proposal consists of a £100m fee with £5m of add-ons and comes after two low initial offers were rejected.
But despite that, a British record deal could yet be sealed before the end of the week.
West Ham are understood to want a different payment structure – with faster payments rather than Arsenal’s proposal for it to stretch over a number of years – so they can replace Rice with a high-quality midfielder in this transfer window.
The Hammers are willing to negotiate further and Arsenal are the last club left in the race after City communicated that they would not be meeting Arsenal’s offer. Further talks are set to take place on Wednesday with optimism now building that a deal can be struck before the weekend.
City’s decision not to pursue their initial interest will come as a surprise but is in line with the club’s approach to recruitment, where they have often walked away from bidding wars and will not over pay for targets.
Their £80m bid was rejected by West Ham earlier this week and despite Pep Guardiola’s interest in Rice City’s footballing hierarchy are unwilling to go above their valuation of the player.
The preference of the player to move to the Emirates may also have been a factor in their thinking.
i understands that Rice has always been sold on a move to Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta having sold him a detailed vision of how he would fit into the club’s project moving forward.
And it looks likely that he will get his wish if West Ham and Arsenal can thrash out the final details of a transfer which all parties want to be concluded as soon as possible.
The Gunners are moving to strengthen a squad that finished second last season with moves for Kai Havertz, whose switch from Chelsea is set to be announced in the next 24 hours, and Ajax defender Jurrien Timber.
City have a potentially huge transfer budget but after missing out on Jude Bellingham and Rice it will be fascinating to see where they go next, especially with Ilkay Gundogan having departed for Barcelona.
The club illustrated after missing out on Harry Kane that they are happy to wait for their preferred targets, eventually landing Erling Haaland a year later.
City have enough midfielders to plug the gap left by Ilkay Gundogan, with Mateo Kovacic signing, and there is a hope that Kalvin Phillips will bounce back from a disappointing first season.
Although Inter Milan’s Nicolo Barella has been on the club’s radar, that move may wait another 12 months.
i understands City are targeting RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol and contact has been made between the two clubs for the centre-back. He would cost upwards of £80m.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/tUd7pHM
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