Arsenal have been linked with a move for the West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice.
The 24-year-old England international is expected to leave West Ham at the end of the season and he wants to play for a club in the Champions league. Arsenal are at the top of the league table right now and Champions League qualification seems like a formality.
Rice has established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in the league and he deserves to play at a high level.
The Gunners could certainly use someone like him on their side and the West Ham midfielder would be a superb acquisition for Mikel Arteta’s midfield.
Journalist Dean Jones has now revealed that the Gunners are willing to break their transfer record in order to sign the 24-year-old midfielder.
However, they are unlikely to break the British transfer record set by Chelsea when they signed Enzo Fernandez from Benfica. Rice has a contract at West Ham until the summer of 2024 and therefore he will have just 12 months left on his deal at the end of the season.
Jones said to GiveMeSport: “I think Arsenal are definitely willing to break their own transfer record to sign Declan Rice, but I’m not sure they’re going to go above and beyond £100m and break the British record.
“I think West Ham will be hopeful that that happens. They’re hopeful that they can get £110m for Rice. I can understand why they would set their stall out at that level. I’m just not 100% sure that it’s realistic.”
It is highly unlikely that any club would pay in excess of £100 million for the midfielder.
Arsenal are undoubtedly keen on signing the England international but they might not be willing to pay over the odds for him.
West Ham will have to set a realistic asking price for any transfer to go through and it remains to be seen how the situation develops.