Manchester City may not table West Ham United transfer bid for Declan Rice as Arsenal line up third offer
Manchester City “will not make a bid” to West Ham for Declan Rice unless he makes clear to them he is prepared to move to the Etihad, The Mirror reports.
The Irons captain has been “expecting” a move to Arsenal for months and made clear to Bayern Munich that his plan was to move to the Emirates.
Therefore City, who are “determined” to sign the 24-year-old, want him to drop his “steadfast desire” to join the Gunners or they won’t make an offer for the £100million-plus rated midfielder.
Arsenal meanwhile are readying a new, third, offer which is reportedly “understood to meet the Hammers’ valuation” after their second bid which totalled £90million was swiftly rejected this week.
False start
Rice is now the key to his own future if clubs aren’t even going to join the race unless he is prepared to agree to a move before hand.
West Ham arguably need him to open his mind to the possibility of joining the treble-winners or they could be stuck haggling with Arsenal further into the summer.
But if he has made up his mind on where to go there isn’t a great deal that anyone can do about it, and the responsibility will rest firmly at the Emirates to come up with the cash to make it happen.
The Irons have agreed not to stand in his way but with Sky Sports (25 June) maintaining that the club values Rice at £120million it doesn’t mean they will sanction a discount.
If Rice is prepared to move elsewhere in England then it should turn into a full-blown transfer race, but if it is Arsenal or nowhere then attentions will focus solely on Mikel Arteta’s side to make the required offer or it may well end up being nowhere.
If the third Arsenal bid is indeed set to satisfy the Irons then perhaps the resolution to this transfer saga is now just around the corner, but expectations have so far not been met so it remains to be seen what number arrives.
In other West Ham news, a third big-money Irons player may now be angling for a summer exit after an ominous behind-the-scenes move.