Arsenal and Chelsea hold a strong interest in Declan Rice, but the Gunners have pulled ahead in the race.
Mikel Arteta will bolster his squad with a new midfielder in the summer and Rice has been one of the top men on their shortlist.
West Ham is prepared to cash in on the England international, which has made several clubs show an interest in a move for him.
This means Arsenal will not find it easy to add him to their squad, but a report on The Guardian has revealed that the Gunners are leading the race ahead of Chelsea.
It claims the Blues’ latest spending and the possibility of not qualifying for the Champions League means it will be hard for them to compete for his signature.
Just Arsenal Opinion
Rice is one of the finest midfielders around now and the Englishman will make us much stronger if we add him to our squad.
It is great that Chelsea is struggling to compete with us, but that does not mean the race will be easy.
We still have to do a lot of work because new suitors could join the race before the season ends and make the pursuit more complicated.
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Another Tielemans type of news
Firstly, what a great first half performance against Fulham!!!
Now on to the Summer transfer window.
I have said this before, but in my view, if we buy Rice he would be the replacement (or back up) for Xhaka.
I do not rate Rice as a good enough footballer to be a back up for Thomas Partey!
I still think Caicedo would be a far better option as the back up for Partey.
I read that we are sniffing around Savic from Lazio. I just do not see him fitting in, I think he is much more of a rigid player and would not be a good fit in our system.
I think we should keep Jorginho, since he can play in several positions and would be good coming off the bench!!
My last question is: What do we do about Balogun? Should we keep him as another striking option, or should we sell him to help raise funds for new players?
If we sell him, I would suggest we do that to a club abroad. I fear he would come back to haunt us if we sell him to a an English Club!!
“My last question is: What do we do about Balogun? ”
I reckon it’s time for Eddie to go and Balogun to pick up his place. It will bring in 30m+ to help rebuild the central midfield and strengthen the attack.