Arsenal Fear Losing Transfer Race for Declan Rice

Arsenal have earmarked Declan Rice as their No.1 transfer target this summer and have identified him as Granit Xhaka’s long-term successor. Mikel Arteta is keen to oversee an overhaul of his midfield engine room and made a club-record bid for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo in January, but the Seagulls refused to countenance the 21-year-old’s departure. Competition to sign the 24-year-old West Ham captain will be intense, with Chelsea, Liverpool and both Manchester giants carefully monitoring the situation. The Hammers are counting on something of a bidding war and will only entertain offers in excess of £100million. Reports earlier this week claimed Arsenal only valued Rice at £70m and, as such, the north London club fear history repeating itself as Chelsea are positioning themselves to hijack their move for Rice, just as they did with Mykhailo Mudryk in January. Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes Rice will end up being simply too expensive for his old club to afford. He said: ‘I don’t think they’ve got the money, even though the Champions League will bring some more revenue. I don’t see him as a player Arsenal can afford to buy.’