Declan Rice’s verdict on Arsenal as Gunners aim to hijack Chelsea deal

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Declan Rice has previously been glowing in his praise of Arsenal amid reports he is the Gunners’ top summer transfer target. The Premier League leaders are said to be confident of signing the West Ham star at the end of the season.

Rice has long been linked with a move to Chelsea, the club who released him at the age of 14. Manchester United are also long-term admirers of the midfielder.

However, Arsenal have now entered the mix. Their position at the top of the table means they can now shop in a different market than they have previously been in.

The Times claims the Gunners believe they can win the race against their rivals to sign Rice. A deal would be worth around £80million, which would break Arsenal’s transfer record.

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Rice is a boyhood Chelsea fan and his best friend Mason Mount is a key player at Stamford Bridge. But he has also revealed his admiration for Mikel Arteta’s side.

Arsenal beat West Ham 3-1 on Boxing Day after a fine second half performance. Rice was full of praise for the north London outfit and is convinced they can win the title.

He said: “100 per cent. They are a top team. You can see they are coached incredibly well, have a lot of attacking talent, a young squad and they can go the whole way for sure.

“First half we tried as hard as we could to stop them, we came up short and it’s frustrating. It’s a tough one because first half even though we didn’t have much of the ball we defended really well, had a plan, went one-nil up but you can’t sustain that for 90 minutes against a team like Arsenal, it’s the same against City.

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“In the end one of their chances will lead to something, with their free-flowing football they managed to get through. Then your backs are against the wall and it’s down to us to keep going and we tried to do that but we couldn’t, we couldn’t get up the pitch, they smothered us.”

Rice’s contract at West Ham expires at the end of next season, though the club do have an option to extend it by a further year. He only turned 24 on Saturday, so would fit in with the age profile of player Arteta has targeted in recent windows.

Rice has rejected all offers of a renewal at West Ham as he considers his future. Arsenal will not overpay for him but it is clear he admires the project Arteta is building at the Emirates.

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