GOOD NEWS: £120m star ‘wants talks as soon as possible’ over move to Emirates

Arsenal target Declan Rice will want to speak to the north London-based club as soon as humanly possible to discuss his future, journalist Dean Jones has told GIVEMESPORT.

Arsenal have touted the midfield general as their priority signing this summer, and a switch from east to north London may well come to fruition.

Alex Crook from talkSPORT suggests that Arsenal remain as favourites to sign their English target this summer.

The report does, however, claim Rice has spoken to Bayern Munich boss, Thomas Tuchel, amid the speculation the 24-year-old may join the Bavarian heavyweights.

To the agony of Mikel Arteta, even transfer expert Jose Felix Diaz has suggested Rice’s unforeseen move to the Allianz Arena is now ‘close’.

West Ham are no longer able to fight off the Champions League-worthy clubs with their captain even refusing to extend his stint at his current club.

In turn, Sky Sports revealed previously that the east Londoners have slapped a £120m price tag on his head.

Where he will end up at the beginning of the 2023/24 season is yet to be seen, but Dean Jones has told GIVEMESPORT that he believes there’s been no sign that Rice has ever been keen to play for Bayern Munich.

Instead, Jones claimed that Rice is eager to speak to the Arsenal higher-ups about his future as soon as possible.

What did Dean Jones say about Arsenal and Declan Rice?

He said: “There has been no sign that Declan Rice has got or has ever had an ambition to play for Bayern Munich. He wants to speak to Arsenal as soon as possible. And from there, Arsenal need to try and get their ducks in a row quickly to try and get the deal done so that Bayern don’t get an opportunity to go to the table properly with him.

“You know, you have to be open-minded to things because it’s not always that your first choice ever works out, but it might do and Arsenal are the team that are going to get first dibs at this.”

What would Declan Rice bring to Arsenal?

Something intangible that Rice would bring in abundance would be leadership. At times during their title-chasing season, you could argue that Arsenal were lacking an adept leader.

Being the Irons skipper has added another tool to Rice’s already varied skill set, and it makes him such a valuable asset to a team, like Arsenal, who have returned to the Champions League.

Arsenal’s Seasoned midfielder Granit Xhaka is set to leave the club in the summer for Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen and would leave a gaping hole for someone to come in.

Rice is absolutely perfect. The 41-cap England international has led his West Ham side to a Europa Conference League final, contributing one goal and one assist along the way.

His club has not enjoyed their most successful campaign domestically, however. The Hammers finished the season in 14th place, but – unsurprisingly – Rice boasts the club’s highest average match rating, as per WhoScored.

As well as this, the in-demand Englishman recorded an impressive 1.73 interceptions, 1.59 clearances, and 2.42 progressive carries per 90 in the 2022/23 campaign, according to Fbref.

If Arsenal are able to fend off Bayern Munich in their fierce race for the all-round midfielder, it would be an incredible buy, albeit for a lot of money.