Declan Rice, who was heavily linked with a transfer to Manchester City has now revealed why he decided to sign for Arsenal instead.
The £105 million (Sky Sports) man was speaking to the BBC about his decision to join Mikel Arteta’s side, after it was reported at the time that City had pulled out of the race to sign him.
While Arsenal new-boy Declan Rice did not directly mention Manchester City, he indirectly gave an insight into his thinking behind putting pen to paper for last season’s runners-up in the Premier League title race.
Declan Rice suggests why he snubbed Manchester City transfer to join Arsenal
In June, it was claimed that the Englishman was viewed as a replacement for Ilkay Gundogan, who ended up moving to Barcelona.
However, the Sky Blues decided to opt out of the race for the 24-year-old’s signature, as they are yet to sign a direct successor to the German.
Now, Declan Rice has suggested why he chose to sign for Arsenal instead of Manchester City.
“I think it was just their desire and their vision to get Arsenal back to where they belong really. To be a part of a team and a squad that wants to challenge again really mean a lot to me in terms of the way I see football and the way I want to be perceived.”
Declan Rice elaborated on his decision to reject Manchester City in favour of a transfer to Arsenal, saying, “This year, I feel collectively, as a club, as a set of players, we can do special things. And then individually as well, there’s things that I want to add to my game that I feel Mikel [Arteta] can bring the best out of so that’s the most important thing now.”
“To win trophies, I think that’s why Mikel’s here, that’s why the players we’ve got are here. Everyone wants to push in that direction, you only get one career and at the end, you only want to be determined on how many trophies you’ve won and I know this squad here are so hungry to win stuff.”
“We’re young, we’re hungry, got a lot of energy, after the back of last season, we’d have learned a lot so this year, with all the competitions we’re going into, the only aim is to win and not to just to take part.”
Now that Declan Rice is an Arsenal player, he will have his task cut out in trying to spearhead his side to beating this Manchester City machine to the Premier League title next season.
