Arsenal have reportedly already taken steps toward signing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in the summer, in potentially good news for West Ham, and maybe Chelsea too.
That’s according to a report from Corriere dello Sport (print edition February 6th, page 17), who claim that the 27-year-old midfielder is keen to sign for Arsenal as well.
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If true, that would obviously be great news for the Hammers and our hopes of keeping hold of Declan Rice.
However, could the Gunners be using their supposed interest in Milinkovic-Savic as a red herring in order to throw Chelsea off the scent for the 24-year-old?
There’s every chance that that could in fact be the case after what happened in the summer with Mykhaylo Mudryk.
Either way, the Declan Rice transfer chase is certainly heating up ahead of the summer transfer window…
Arsenal signing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic would be great news for West Ham
Keeping Rice at the London Stadium beyond the end of the summer transfer window seems to be an almost impossible task for David Moyes and the Hammers owners.
However, if Gunners boss Mikel Arteta brings Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to The Emirates, he surely wont be in the race for Rice as well.
He’d be a great signing for the north London club. Football Italia recently described the midfielder as an ‘unstoppable’ player. Meanwhile, The Laziali label him as ‘world-class’.
Lazio value the Serbia international at around £60 million (The Sun), whilst West Ham allegedly want £120 million plus for Rice.
In my opinion, there is absolutely no way that Arsenal will be splashing out close to £200 million on two midfielders. It’s either one or the other I reckon.
So the Gunners chasing the Lazio star would obviously be good news for West Ham.
However, I firmly believe that this could be the Gunners just making it appear as though they’re not actually interested in signing Rice anymore, or at the very least that they won’t be entertaining a bidding war for his signature.
I think if we’re being honest, Declan Rice will leave the London Stadium in the summer. The only question mark that remains in my mind is which club will he join?
If Arsenal end up signing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, the 24-year-old certainly won’t be Emirates bound. I question the veracity of the claims from the Italian media though regarding the Serbian’s potential move to the Gunners.
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