Eddie Nketiah is one of several Arsenal FC players that could be sold as the club pursue Declan Rice.
ARSENAL
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West Ham rejected Arsenal’s second proposal for their top summer target Declan Rice on Tuesday. The last bid reportedly included a £75 million price upfront, plus £15 million in add-ons, which the Hammers did not believe were realistic.
According to the Independent, West Ham insists that the overall amount of Arsenal’s bid for Rice must exceed £100 million.
The Gunners will reportedly make another bid for the England international, and the belief is that they are coming closer to a deal, with Mikel Arteta expecting to seal the acquisition before his squad’s pre-season tour in the summer.
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Manchester City are also rumoured to be interested in Declan Rice if lkay Gündoan does not sign a new contract, while Chelsea are said to be keeping an eye on the situation.
With Mikel Arteta aiming to make multiple changes to his squad, signing Rice is likely to result in several departures.
The Independent reports that Arteta could be in charge of spending more than £200 million this summer as the club pursue Rice, Kai Havertz of Chelsea, Romeo Lavia of Southampton, and Jurrien Timber of Ajax.
Arsenal will probably make sales to make up for that spending.
According to the article, the club is willing to consider bids for players like Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey, and then one of Nketiah and Folarin Balogun because the Gunners want to keep one of them as attacking cover.
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While Nketiah‘s exit would raise more eyebrows given that the attacker proved to be a dependable understudy to Gabriel Jesus this term, Balogun’s departure would not surprise Arsenal supporters as much.
If Rice were to sign with the Gunners, he would surpass Nicolas Pepe‘s signing in 2019 for £72 million, setting a new club record.
Earlier this month, the 24-year-old and West Ham won the Europa Conference League championship. and after the game owner David Sullivan said he believed that was the skipper’s last Hammers outing.
