‘We’re really close’ – Insider Hints At Possible Deal For ‘Outstanding’ Arsenal Target

Fabrizio Romano has claimed that West Ham believe they are nearing the end of this Declan Rice saga amid interest from Arsenal and Manchester City.

Rice looked nailed on to be joining Arsenal after he played his last game for the Hammers in the Europa Conference League final with no other clubs seemingly holding a strong enough interest in the player who was keen on staying in London.

The Gunners looked to have played it smart by testing the waters with two potentially low-ball offers to see how West Ham would react but with the lack of a third bid incoming anytime soon, they may well have given other clubs a chance to swoop in.

Manchester City are seemingly set to launch a huge bid for the midfielder in the coming hours and days as Pep Guardiola tries to fill the void which will be left by Ilkay Gundogan who is set to join Barcelona on July 1st.

Guardiola’s side could well be one of the best football teams we have ever seen if they manage to sign Rice, Matteo Kovacic, as well as the highly rated Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig, but even for the Premier League champions, this won’t be easy.

Man City closing in on Declan Rice

It has been reported that Rice would prefer to stay in London – where he has been his entire life – so it will have to be a huge contract that tempts him up north this summer, but most of the interest is seemingly coming outside of London.

No matter where Rice is going to end up, Romano beleiebs that people inside West Ham think a deal is now very close, he said:

“Let’s wait for the bids, let’s see what happens. The feeling at West Ham during the night is that we’re really close to the end of this story, so let’s see what’s going to happen in the next hours around Declan Rice.”

Arsenal losing ground in their pursuit

Despite Rice’s willingness to try and stay in London – perhaps for family and personal reasons – the majority of the interest in his services is coming from outside of the capital with Man City, Manchester United, Liverpool and even the ambitious Newcastle United primed and ready to try and make their move with the midfielder.

There has always been a long-standing interest from Chelsea as well given they are his boyhood club that released him when he was just a kid because he wasn’t good enough, although the fact his best friend – Mason Mount – is set to leave the Blues will likely mean a deal is far from likely to happen.

If Arsenal were to lose out on Rice to Man City they may well accept that as they’re treble winners and have the best manager in the world, but, for example, if they were to lose out on him to the likes of Man United – who have off-field issues -, Liverpool who are in a transitional phase or Newcastle, who are only just establishing themselves in the league, it would be embarrassing for the Gunners.