Arsenal are confident their impending opening bid for Declan Rice is a strong one, and they believe the transfer will ultimately come down to the player’s decision.
An Arsenal move for Declan Rice is effectively on hold at the moment, with West Ham United keen not to allow any distractions for the midfielder ahead of the Europa Conference League final.
With Wednesday night’s final now upon us, Arsenal’s opening bid is getting closer.
Football.London report that Arsenal are confident that opening bid is a strong one, but they believe it will ultimately come down to the player to decide.
As well as Arsenal, Rice also has interest from a number of other clubs including Bayern Munich and Manchester United. The Gunners are keen to avoid a bidding war if possible.
TalkSPORT report that Arsenal will make a formal approach after the final, and the Gunners are optimistic, with the player believed to prefer a move to the Emirates over Munich.
According to talkSPORT, United are keeping informed on developments, but they don’t consider themselves front-runners.
TalkSPORT aren’t the first outlet to claim Arsenal will bid for Rice after Wednesday’s Conference League final, with Fabrizio Romano repeatedly tweeting to confirm that’s when the first offer will arrive.
Rice himself has also insisted he’s fully focused on the final.
“My main focus this season, from the World Cup onwards, has been getting us out of a relegation battle and, of course, having one eye on winning this trophy,” Rice said.
“Everything else is just noise and speculation. Obviously, I can’t help that, it comes with playing. But my main focus is playing for West Ham and winning this final.
“My heart’s set on that, doing it for the club, for my family, for the fans and that’s my only focus. I want to make them all very happy and my focus is on doing that.”
The final offers West Ham the chance to secure some long-awaited honours, as well as European football for next season.
With the exception of the Intertoto Cup and the Championship playoff final, it’s been 42 years since West Ham’s last trophy lift – the League Cup.
24-year-old Rice has made 49 appearances for West Ham this season so far, scoring five goals and providing four assists from his defensive midfield role.
Rice is also an England international, making 41 appearances for his country.