Arsenal are reportedly among the potential suitors for West Ham starlet Declan Rice, according to the latest speculation on his future.
The England international is one of the finest young players in Europe at the moment and has long been linked with Chelsea by the Telegraph and others.
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According to Don Balon, Arsenal are the latest side to join the race for Rice’s signature, and it certainly makes sense that the Gunners could look to strengthen their squad after a poor start to the season.
Mikel Arteta needs to make changes to his squad in a number of areas, and Rice could be a useful upgrade on the struggling Granit Xhaka, who has surely not done himself any favours in terms of cementing his place in the team following his needless red card in the weekend defeat at home to Burnley.
Rice could also be an option for Arsenal in defence, where they’ve struggled in recent times due to the unconvincing performances of the likes of David Luiz and Rob Holding, who are surely not good enough for a team chasing a top four place.
Chelsea would also no doubt benefit from landing Rice, with the 21-year-old sure to be an upgrade on the likes of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in defensive midfield, or on the likes of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen in central defence.
It would be a big boost for Arsenal if they could beat one of their rivals to this signing, though Rice is likely to have plenty of admirers, with Don Balon also suggesting the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham could be interested in the player likely to cost around £45.5million.
Arsenal cant afford rice