Journalist Tom Canton has suggested that Manchester City could hijack Arsenal’s potential transfer move for Declan Rice.
Last week, it was reported that Arsenal are looking to secure a deal for the West Ham United midfielder after seeing an initial offer of £80m plus add-ons rejected.
It was then claimed that the Manchester club are considering getting involved in the situation to see if they can sign the Englishman, who West Ham apparently want at least £100m for.
With that in mind, one Arsenal journalist has shared his thoughts on what City’s involvement could look like in this particular transfer saga.
Man City keeping an eye on Rice situation
Speaking in a recent video on the Highbury Squad YouTube channel, Canton said this on the matter.
He said: “City are monitoring the situation. I think they might wait and see what Arsenal agree with West Ham in the end in terms of a fee and then they might chuck in a bid that’s equal and say ‘Rice, if you want to make the decision to come to us, you can.’”
Bearing in mind how the Citizens have a track record of signing English players from fellow Premier League clubs and spending significant amounts of money in doing so, such as with Jack Grealish, who City paid £100m for back in 2021, it’s not hard to see why they have been now linked with a move for Rice.
Also, with Ilkay Gundogan out of contract at the end of the month, the Citizens could see Rice, who ended his latest season with West Ham by lifting the Europa Conference League trophy, as their ideal potential replacement for the German should he end up leaving the club this summer.
Moving forward, if City do have an interest in signing the 24-year-old, it could be a risk to wait and see Arsenal possibly make another move as their perseverance and eagerness to sign him may be a big factor that convinces the player to join them instead of Pep Guardiola’s side.
