West Ham United star Declan Rice top priority amid ‘concrete’ Arsenal midfield update on Thomas Partey – Fabrizio Romano
Arsenal remain focused on signed West Ham captain Declan Rice as a “priority” amid “important updates” on their plan for the midfield from Fabrizio Romano.
The Gunners have been in prime position to land the Irons star, but have yet to submit a second bid after having their first £90million plus £10million bid rejected.
They are set to let Granit Xhaka leave for the England star to take his place, but are now also looking likely to sell Thomas Partey, and as such are chasing Southampton’s Romeo Lavia.
In his Sunday update via Twitter Romano reported: “Understand there’s concrete chance for Thomas Partey to leave Arsenal this summer. Clubs are interested and there are discussions about his exit.
“Current contract expiring in June 2025 and no talks to extend as of today.
“Arsenal priority remains Declan Rice.”
Then, speaking on his YouTube channel he added “important updates regarding Arsenal’s plan for the midfield”.
The Italian said the Gunners are “very busy” on signing the West Ham star, and are “confident” in their chances, but with the North London side still waiting to find a replacement before letting Xhaka join Bayer Leverkusen they could now be letting Partey leave, with the chances he also goes “very concrete”.
Romano reiterates that Rice remains the “top target” at the Emirates but Romeo Lavia is also in their sights as they line up a two-out-two-in move for their midfield this summer.
Overhaul
The midfield machinations this summer are showing no signs of letting up, and after Jude Bellingham’s massive move to Real Madrid was confirmed the West Ham skipper appears by far the biggest one otherwise this window.
If Partey also leaves the Emirates, not only is it going to heighten their push to sign the likes of Lavia from St. Mary’s but logically would make their intent on winning the race for Rice even stronger.
While they appear to have overcome Bayern Munich already this summer in the stakes for the England star, Manchester City are a lurking threat.
West Ham have made clear for a long time that they want over £100million to let their captain leave, and as long as Arsenal are yet to reach that the door is open for another club to swoop in and hijack the move.
Clearly, Mikel Arteta’s side would like to land him for a lower amount, but amid what looks like a major overhaul of their midfield department this summer the latest update suggests they have a lot more work on their hands.
So the Irons will surely hope that incentivises them to up their offer for Rice in order to secure their “priority” move before they move onto replacing the second departure.