Arsenal are making West Ham midfielder and club captain Declan Rice their top transfer target for this summer.
Rice has been a key player for West Ham and England in recent times, and it seems Arsenal are eager to bring him to the Emirates Stadium next season, according to the Evening Standard.
Still, Standard reporter Simon Collings has also urged the Gunners to fix their defence, pointing out just how much of a down-grade Rob Holding has been in the absence of the injured William Saliba.
Saliba had a superb season for Arsenal until he was forced out of some of the team’s recent big games, and that lack of squad depth will be a huge issue for the north London giants when they also have Champions League football to think about next season.
While Rice clearly makes sense as a priority to give Mikel Arteta a younger alternative to Thomas Partey, Jorginho and Granit Xhaka, it is vital to generally improve the squad’s depth next season now that Champions League football has been assured.
Saliba is a great first choice option, but there’s no backup behind him, with Holding clearly not good enough. Another option could also be to move Ben White into the centre, but then a new right-back would also be useful.