Arsenal and Man Utd to lose out on Rice as Man City have trump card

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Arsenal and Manchester United could be set to miss out on top summer target Declan Rice as Manchester City step up their interest in signing the West Ham star. The England international is being tracked by several Premier League clubs as he prepares to leave the London Stadium this summer and Pep Guardiola is thought to be interested in capturing the box-to-box midfielder.

The 24-year-old has been valued at around £100million by his club, which may put him out of range for most clubs in the top flight apart from Chelsea and City. However, the champions have devised a plan that could make his signing more of a realistic prospect.

According to TeamTalk, City are ‘seriously considering’ basing building their new-look midfield around the Hammers star – and that will come as a hammer blow for Arsenal and Manchester United, who identified Rice as a key part of their transfer plans.

Mikel Arteta has been chasing a central midfielder to add to his squad for some time due to fitness concerns over Thomas Partey and a lack of cover for Granit Xhaka. Rice has emerged as the Gunners’ first choice to fill the role in the midfield three, although doubts have been raised as to whether the title challengers could afford his £100m asking price.

Similar questions have been asked about Manchester United, who have already spent a cool £70m to recruit Casemiro from Real Madrid and would almost certainly need to sell before spending big again. Liverpool are prioritising Jude Bellingham, while Chelsea have already acquired Enzo Fernandez and are set to renew the deals of N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic.

Guardiola has a trump card to play that could propel him to the front of the queue as the Catalan is prepared to let three players leave to make room for Rice.

Kalvin Phillips, who is yet to start a Premier League game for City and has only featured for 56 minutes this season in the league, could be set to cut short his nightmare spell at the Etihad Stadium.

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The 27-year-old made a surprise switch from Leeds United for £45m in August but has struggled to lock down a regular spot, and a move across the Manchester divide cannot be ruled out given their past interest.

Ilkay Gundogan looks set to depart when his contract expires this summer, while Bernardo Silva has been consistently linked with a move to La Liga after six years at Eastlands.

And the proceeds made from the trio’s departures will certainly help City fund a move Rice to form a new midfield three with Rodri and Kevin de Bruyne.

Given City’s appeal and strong English core of John Stones, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, it seems Rice could be tempted to join the six-time Premier League winners to fuel their ambition to win the Champions League, if not this season.

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