Manchester City could put themselves in a position to hijack a potential transfer deal for Declan Rice this summer.
After seeing Rice get linked with a £100m move to Arsenal, a fresh update today claimed that the north London club have made a move to sign the West Ham United midfielder, although City are apparently exploring the option of making their own swoop for him.
Now though, one journalist has shared some details on the matter from the Citizens’ point of view.
Rice would consider City move
Speaking in a recent video on The Football Terrace YouTube channel, Dean Jones said this about the possibility of City hijacking Arsenal’s proposed move for Rice.
He said: “The problem is Man City, they’ve always been the elephant in the room. There’s a potential for a Rice hijack from City.
“They had their eye on it, they enquired about it and enquired personally as to whether he’d be interested and what he’d be looking at.
“The way I understand this now is that if Declan Rice had assurances that Pep Guardiola was going to be there, because I think that is still important. I know that Man City have made noises to say that he is going to be there for the next two years, I think Rice, ideally, would like him there for more than two years but anyway, as long as he’s there for the next two years, then Declan Rice is interested in this, of course he is.
“You’ve got the treble winners, you’ve got the Champions League winners, you’ve got Pep Guardiola, you’ve got Erling Haaland, you’ve got Jack Grealish, there’s a lot here that would suit Declan Rice.
“If he’s got the chance to go to Manchester City, he’s going to seriously consider it.”
It has also been reported today that the Gunners have had a first bid of £80m plus add-ons, rejected by West Ham.
During his time at the east London club, the 24-year-old has made 245 senior appearances across all competitions, scoring 15 goals and supplying 13 assists in the process.
Recent weeks saw the Englishman help his side win the Europa Conference League by beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the final earlier this month, his first piece of silverware with the Hammers.
In terms of a potential move to City, the fact that they have Rodri and Kalvin Phillips in their squad, as well as seeing John Stones feature in a midfield role in recent months says to us that hijacking Arsenal’s swoop for Rice may not be completely necessary at this stage.
Also, with the Citizens’ apparent eagerness to keep an eye on the situation, this could pressure the Gunners into making an offer that they know West Ham will accept if it gets them over the line and gets rid of the risk of missing out on the midfielder.
