Arsenal are growing in confidence they can sign Declan Rice this summer, regardless of whether they sign Moises Caicedo this month.

Arsenal are currently pushing to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion in the January transfer window, having seen one bid of £60m rejected.

But whether or not the Gunners manage to get that deal done before the transfer deadline on Tuesday, The Telegraph report that they’ll try to bring in Declan Rice this summer anyway.

Sam Dean reports that Arsenal are growing in confidence they can secure a deal for Rice, and the current pursuit of Caicedo is totally unrelated to that summer move.

Mikel Arteta is keen to strengthen midfield in the medium and long term, and Caicedo and Rice are seen as the ideal players to provide competition for Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey.

Rice could be worth around £70m this summer, possibly even more if Chelsea join the bidding and push the price up.

Though various reports suggest the player would prefer to join Arsenal over their London rivals, so that would help.

Rice would reportedly be confident of Arteta’s coaching making him a better midfielder, having seen the Spaniard turn his current Arsenal side into title contenders.

As well as the chance to work under Arteta, Rice is also keen to play in the Champions League, which looks significantly more likely at Arsenal than Chelsea right now.

CBS Sports reported last week that Rice has been speaking to teammates about Arsenal with effusive praise behind the scenes, admitting he’s stunned by the progress the Gunners have made.

West Ham are expected to have to sell in the summer because Rice’s deal expires in 2024 and he’s been unwilling to sign a new one. But West Ham do have the option to extend by a year.