Transfer News: Arsenal set for Declan Rice talks with Chelsea facing major battle
As per Daily Mail (h/t Football.London), Arsenal are set to hold talks to sign West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice, with Chelsea facing a major battle to get the England international this summer.
The report reveals that the Gunners are willing to offer Rice wages that exceed £300,000-per-week and a transfer fee of around £90m to crack a deal with West Ham.
The 24-year-old has been a Chelsea target as well, but it seems like the Blues are not in a position to sign him in the coming summer. Rice, of course, spent time at our academy before moving to the Hammers’ youth set up in 2013.
They spent a fortune to get Enzo Fernandez from Benfica on the deadline day of the January transfer window. Spending something like that to sign another midfielder would be next-level madness.
Furthermore, with no European football next season and Chelsea needing to cut costs due to FFP regulations, it feels impossible for them to spend big money on a midfielder in the coming transfer window.
If we talk about the Blues’ midfield, Mateo Kovacic is likely to leave in the summer with both the Manchester clubs and Bayern Munich interested. Mason Mount is more or less gone even when the incoming boss Mauricio Pochettino wanted to make him a key player of the squad.
N’Golo Kante is willing to be a part of the future Chelsea project despite his contract expiring at the end of this season. If the club is not signing any midfielder, they might as well offer a nice new contract to Kante and make him a long-term partner of Fernandez in the middle of the park.
More Chelsea News:
- Chelsea keen to retain goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts
- Mauricio Pochettino keen to build his Chelsea squad around Colwill, Mount, Gallagher and James
- Frank McAvennie backs Chelsea to sign former Liverpool star Sadio Mane
The Guardian reports that the club is eyeing an ambitious move for Victor Osimhen from Napoli to bolster their striking department. If that deal happens, it would make this team a lot better than before because a goal scorer is lacking in it big time.
