Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will take on Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal away from home at the Emirates Stadium in North London in the Premier League on Sunday.
Both Manchester City and Arsenal are aiming to win the Premier League title this season.
And, both City and Arsenal are doing well at the moment.
The Citizens are the defending champions, while the Gunners are arguably going to be their main challengers.
One of the big players in the Premier League title race this season will be Declan Rice.
Rice joined Arsenal from London and Premier League rivals West Ham United in the summer transfer window.
The England international has already established himself as a key figure in the Arsenal midfield.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice
Ahead of the match on Sunday, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that he wanted to sign Rice in the summer transfer window.
Guardiola has noted that the £240,000-a-week (Spotrac) star could have started for City if he had moved to the Etihad Stadium.
Sky Sports reported in late June that City, who won the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup last season, offered West Ham £80 million up front plus £10 million in add-ons for the 24-year-old.
The Hammers turned it down.
Rice eventually joined Arsenal for an initial transfer fee of £100 million plus £5 million in performance-related add-ons (Sky Sports).
CityXtra quotes Guardiola as saying about Rice: “Yeah everybody knows that we wanted him.
“He could play not just when Rodri could not play.
“At the end, Arsenal pushed more and wanted him more, maybe Mikel (Arteta) was more convincing than me, or the club itself, or the offer that they (put forward) we could not, what we believed in that position, reach it because we thought on Josko (Gvardiol) in that position, and we could not afford it.
“We could afford it maybe less, or maybe that’s why.”
My View: Future Declan Rice transfer to Manchester City could happen
In my opinion, just because Manchester City missed out on the signing of Declan Rice to Arsenal in the summer transfer window does not mean that they will not be able to get him in the future.
After all, Rice is just 24 now.
It is not as if he is going to be at Arsenal forever.
I think that if City wanted him in the summer of 2023, then they should continue to monitor him and keep tabs on him.
Perhaps after two or three years, City could make a bid for Rice and try to get him from Arsenal.
