Fabrizio Romano confirms Arsenal have reached an agreement with West Ham United to sign Chelsea target Declan Rice
Reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Arsenal have finally reached an agreement with London rivals West Ham United for Declan Rice amid interest from Chelsea for the former Cobham prospect.
Aside from Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich were also interested in the English international, but the Gunners appear to have ultimately gotten their man. Manchester City also made a bid or two but ultimately refused to match Arsenal’s offer.
Now that an agreement in principle with the Hammers has been agreed the onus is now on Arsenal to not let another team swoop in late. One of the best young midfielders in Europe, his signing is nothing short of a coup for the north Londoners.
The Hammers had rejected Arsenal’s first two bids for Rice from the North Londoners, as they were holding out £100 million for the England international. It is also understood that they used City to enhance the price to make Rice the most expensive British player.
Despite City’s bid getting rejected, the 24-year-old’s intentions were clear, as he wanted to join Mikel Arteta’s side next season, as the former Chelsea academy graduate wants to remain in London. In many ways, it will hurt to see a former Blue don the Red outfit.
Arteta has been a fan of the midfielder and also explained where he will fit into the system after the Gunners also successfully signed Chelsea star Kai Havertz. Ironically, two players with Chelsea affiliations could spearhead the Gunners’ resurgence.
Rice has developed into one of the best midfielders in Europe, and it still hurts the academy to let him go, but who knew he’d have such an impact in the Premier League? He is a versatile midfielder who can play both the 8 and the 6 positions in the middle of the field.
The fact that he is best midfielder in the Premier League to have won back possession (334) and interceptions (63) than any other midfielder speaks volumes about his skill with the ball. His addition will be the icing on the cake for Arsenal, and if we are to keep up with them, we must recruit a quality midfielder.
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There are only a few midfielders who can compete with Rice, one of them is Moises Caicedo. Chelsea are keen on signing Caicedo who has recently emerged as one of the top midfielders. His stats are also enough to prove that his addition will reinforce the club as his 100 tackles were only slightly fewer than those of Joao Palhinha. Only Rice, on the other hand, has made 65 more tackles than Caicedo in the previous season.