According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Manchester City are set to make an offer to sign West Ham United and England midfielder Declan Rice to rival Arsenal.
The latest development comes as Ilkay Gundogan’s departure was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, with the German ace making the move to Barcelona upon the expiration of his contract at the Etihad.
Man City have also already agreed a deal to sign Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea for £30m, less than two weeks after the team cemented their names in English football history earlier this month when they won the Champions League in Istanbul.
The Sky Blues not only secured their first honour in the elite European competition but became treble winners with the FA Cup and Premier League title also won over the 2022/23 campaign.
Indeed, Pep Guardiola boasts one of the most talented squads in world football at present, however, the tenacious manager is renowned for making subtle tweaks to his team every season.
As a result, it will come as no surprise that Declan Rice is the latest to be linked with a move to the blue side of Manchester this summer.
Ornstein took to Twitter on Thursday morning to deliver the news:
“Manchester City expected to submit an offer to West Ham for Declan Rice today. #MCFC have serious interest in recruiting 24yo England midfielder + it is anticipated a formal bid will be lodged soon to rival Arsenal for signing.”
Our thoughts on Manchester City’s interest in Declan Rice…
Rice has become one of the hottest young prospects in English football following his development with the Hammers and huge influence in the centre of the pitch for England over the last few years.
The West Ham captain led his team to the club’s first major trophy since 1980 and their first European trophy since 1965 when they were victorious in the Europa Conference League earlier this month.
Rice now has just one year left on his contract which has sparked huge interest from a number of clubs both in the Premier League and across Europe.
Arsenal have been considered front-runners over Chelsea and Manchester United so far, whilst Bayern Munich have also taken a shine to the 24-year-old, however, it is looking like Man City are now serious contenders to compete for his signature.
There is no doubt that Rice has the quality attributes needed to earn a regular spot in the highly-competitive Man City team next season – ranking first in the entirety of the Premier League for interceptions won, third for passes into the final third and ninth for tackles won, as per FBref.
Having said that, it does beg the question of where the future lies for Kalvin Phillips with the former Leeds talisman only joining 12 months ago and struggling to tally up consistent game time with the top-flight champions.
The interest in Rice could prompt a move for Phillips and the treble-winning midfielder could even be used as a bargaining chip in the negotiations with West Ham – offering his services and a fee to put an attractive deal on the table that will be hard to ignore.
This move from Man City is definitely one to watch over the coming days and weeks, especially with Arsenal also hopeful of securing Rice’s signature this summer; it could quickly turn into a Premier League bidding war between the two clubs.
