Breaking news from Fabrizio Romano on Twitter has indicated that Arsenal plan to submit their second bid for Declan Rice “in the next few hours”. This was tweeted three hours ago, so my assumption is that this bid has been submitted and we will hear of West Ham’s response in due time.
Romano claims that this second proposal will be “around £90m” and that it isn’t linked to the Romeo Lavia deal, which is separate. I assume what is meant by this is that Arsenal will pursue Lavia regardless of the Rice outcome.
Arsenal will submit their second bid for Declan Rice today
It is my prediction that £90m won’t be enough to convince West Ham. They have stated before that £100m is the fee they would like to sell their captain, which they’re not likely to budge on. The thing which works in Arsenal’s favour, though, is that Rice wants the move to the Emirates Stadium – echoed by Romano.
Arsenal second bid for Declan Rice will be submitted in the next hours — it was never sent last week as Arsenal remain calm, feeling that the players wants the move. ⚪️🔴 #AFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 20, 2023
Second proposal will be around £90m. Not linked to Roméo Lavia deal — no bid yet in that case. pic.twitter.com/GXt1ynle1P
This saga for Declan Rice has been ongoing for some time now. However, now that Rice has completed his West Ham duties in the Europa Conference League final and his international duties in the qualifying rounds, there should be some motion for this deal.
Mikel Arteta sees Declan Rice as the focal point for his midfield plans next season, alongside Martin Odegaard. We reported yesterday that Mikel Arteta had already started to plan his midfield strategy for next season, and even predicted the midfield setup for next season without Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka – more on that below.
Do you think West Ham will accept Arsenal’s second bid for Declan Rice, which will be around £90m?