Arsenal are planning a summer move for West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and are growing in confidence that a deal can be done.
Rice’s contract expires in the summer of 2024 and the 24-year-old has so far rejected three offers to extend his stay in east London.
Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United have all previously registered an interest in the midfielder, with Chelsea initially exploring a potential transfer in the summer of 2020.
Advertisement
But current Premier League leaders Arsenal are now increasingly optimistic of beating their Premier League rivals to the £80million-rated England international.
Rice is keen to compete for trophies and play Champions League football.
“One hundred per cent, I want to play in the Champions League,” he said in December.
“For the last two or three years, I’ve been saying that. I’ve been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing. I see my friends here who are playing Champions League and for big trophies.”
West Ham would not entertain a departure this month but have conceded internally they will have to sell him this summer.
Rice’s contract contains a one-year option but London stadium chiefs believe this summer is their last chance to earn a sizeable fee for the midfielder.
Arsenal’s ambitions to acquire Rice makes it possible that they will once again go head-to-head with Chelsea for a signing, as with Joao Felix and Mykhailo Mudryk.
Arsenal were beaten this window to the signing of both players but are already turning their attention to summer reinforcements.
They did attempt to land a central midfielder on the final day of the last summer transfer window, making multiple bids for Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz.
Since then, Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny have returned from injury, so a midfielder is considered less of a priority in this January transfer window.
GO DEEPER
Declan Rice: His future, Chelsea links and what happens next
(Photo: Getty Images)
