Man City ‘make plans’ on matching incoming club-record Arsenal offer for Rice

Manchester City have a plan in place to match Arsenal’s offer for Declan Rice, according to reports. The treble winners will only make a bid for the West Ham captain if he makes it clear he would be open to a move to the Etihad.

Rice is set to be one of the biggest transfer stories of the summer. Arsenal have been confident of pulling off a deal for the England star for several months.

The 24-year-old is thought to be keen on a move across London. Some reports have even claimed he only wants to join Arsenal in this window.

However, the Gunners have seen two offers worth up to £90m turned down by West Ham. That has seen City, who pipped Arsenal to the title, enter the race for Rice’s signature.

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But the Mirror claims there will not be an official bid from City unless Rice assures them he would be open to a move. Arsenal are set to make a third bid but City are not giving up hope just yet.

West Ham would accept a bid of around £100m for Rice, which would smash Arsenal’s current transfer record of £72m. City’s record signing is Jack Grealish, who cost £100m from Aston Villa two summers ago.

Pep Guardiola’s side would be willing to pay a similar amount again for Rice. However, if Rice makes it clear he only wants to join Arsenal then City will not submit a bid.

The same report says there could be several high-profile exits at City. With Ilkay Gundogan agreeing to join Barcelona, he could be joined out of the exit door by the likes of Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva and Kalvin Phillips.

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City would look to spend some of the cash on RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol. A £25m deal for Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic is also expected to be formally announced in the coming days.

Rice is far from the only target for Arsenal either. They are closing in on the £65m purchase of Chelsea star Kai Havertz, with the German undergoing a medical this weekend.

The Gunners are also well-placed to sign Ajax defender Jurrien Timber. A first offer of £30m was rejected last week but a deal is reported to be edging closer.

In terms of Rice, a lot will now depend on the player’s stance. If he is open to joining City, that could spell disaster for Arsenal’s hopes of signing him.

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