Edu may have already found Arsenal’s £86m Declan Rice replacement

It doesn’t look amazing from where Arsenal stand in the Declan Rice saga. When it looked all but confirmed they would sign the England international, Manchester City came swooping in from out of nowhere and now the two are joint-favourites.

However, Mikel Arteta won’t give up easily. His clear transfer priority is Declan Rice – It has been since months before the transfer window even opened. Therefore, he won’t be thrown off by interest from another big club.

In fact, Arsenal should use this as more reason to sign Declan Rice. If there was no competition from a big club for your main transfer target, then perhaps there is a problem with your transfer target. After all, Declan Rie is a world class player and he’s proven time and time again that he is ready for the Champions League stage, so it should’ve been inevitable that there would be competition.

Arsenal may have found their Declan Rice replacement

But, on the off-chance that Declan Rice does sign for Manchester City, there are certainly options for Arsenal to consider. For example, Moises Caicedo was named as a potential Declan Rice alternative earlier. Further, there is still progression for Romeo Lavia, so it’s not all doom and gloom for Arsenal supporters.

Football London has highlighted Nicolo Barella as a “no-brainer” and even cites a report from FCInterNews which claims Arsenal are one of the interested clubs. However, like West Ham, Inter Milan are bound to ask for a high fee for one of their best players. £86m should be enough to get the deal over the line, should Edu Gaspar wish to progress with this move.

Do you think Arsenal should sign Nicolo Barella?