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Arsenal are willing to smash their club transfer record for West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice. According to GiveMeSport journalist Dean Jones, the Gunners are preparing a £90 million bid for the 24-year-old star.
While West Ham have set a price tag of at least £100 million for Rice, the north London side are confident they can reach an agreement for an amount less than that. Arsenal's current record transfer fee is French winger Nicolas Pepe, for whom they paid £72 million to sign from Lille in 2019.
The report adds that they are looking to make the midfielder the highest-paid player at the club along with Bukayo Saka. The winger is set to sign an extension that will see him earn £300,000 a week.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has made the club's intentions of signing a midfielder well-known. They were chasing a deal for Brighton and Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo in the January transfer window but an agreement failed to materialize. With Granit Xhaka reportedly set to leave the club, reinforcing the position becomes even more of a necessity.
Jones has also stated that Rice is highly interested in the move. He reportedly admires the rapid progress the club has made in recent years and is said to be excited to play under Arteta.
However, with other clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City also interested in the midfielder, Arsenal could get involved in a bidding war. Manchester United are also rumoured to be interested but the report affirms that Arsenal are the leaders in negotiations.
Mikel Arteta opens up as Arsenal's loss to Nottingham Forest confirms Manchester City as champions
Mikel Arteta addressed the media after Arsenal's 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, a result that officially confirmed Manchester City as champions. He said:
"It's a really sad day. We fell short. I congratulate Man City. They are the champions, they deserved to win. I apologise because we have generated that belief that we could do it, but we were unable to and that is my responsibility."
He added:
"Today we should have played much better. We gave them a goal. When you come to April and May, you need 24 players playing at their best, full of confidence and ready to go, and for many reasons we have not had that."
Pep Guardiola's side, who have now secured their third consecutive Premier League title and their fifth in six years, then went on to beat Chelsea 1-0 on Sunday, May 21.
