If you ask any Gooner which position they believe the team will sign in the summer, more than 75 percent will say midfield. It is believed that that it is is a position Arteta would like to strengthen. If you’re fortunate, that Gooner won’t stop at just identifying the midfielder; he’ll also tell you that Declan Rice could be joining Arteta’s project this summer.
A transfer fantasy about Rice being Arteta’s top 2023 transfer target was hatched during the winter transfer window. Since then, it has appeared probable that the West Ham player will be a Gunner by the 2023–24 season. With this in mind, many are wondering how much Arsenal will pay to bring him on board.
According to reports, Arsenal is ready to spend a lot of money on Rice, but Gary Neville isn’t convinced it’s a good idea. Though speaking about the rumoured prices that Declan Rice could move for this summer, with both Man United and Arsenal supposedly willing to pay fortunes for the West Ham star, Neville rejected that anyone should spend such big money on Rice, whom he views as a lot less valuable.
Neville said on Sky Sports, “But for me, I wouldn’t be spending £110 million or £120 million on Rice if I was Manchester United this summer. I would spend £50 million to £60 million on Declan Rice, but I wouldn’t spend the figures being reported because I feel in that position, I still feel like he’s got a lot of growth.”
On why he doesn’t feel a club should spend big on a player like Rice, he argues, “It doesn’t feel like a £100m position. If you’re spending £100 million, you’ve got to have somebody who’s scoring 25 goals and getting 10 or 15 assists. That’s where £100m sit for me, even though the market gets destroyed and goes up every year in each position.”
Anyway, he still backed Rice to flourish with a change of system, admitting it is about time he left West Ham: “I just feel like if Declan Rice can go to another club and play a couple of years somewhere, that would be great.”
Rice could thrive in Arsenal’s system, and Arteta has demonstrated that he is the man to bring out the best in quality prospects. Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, and Oleksander Zinchenko are three players who have been reborn under Arteta; Rice could be the next, although for a price like that you would expect the finished product.
Darren N
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CONTI CUP OR BUST!
JustArsenal’s Womens expert Michelle joins up with Lotte and Martin from Dublin Arsenal to review last weeks defeat to Chelsea and The Arsenal’s Women’s chances of getting revenge this weekend in the Conti Cup Final…
Do you want to read more about the Arsenal Women’s Team? Click here….
