Well, well, well. It looks like a certain transfer-target has been sizing up options as his current club flounders, his former club casts about, and his preferred club thrives. Although the transfer window has been closed a week, that won’t stop tongues wagging, and one of the stories quickening pulses has been that of a potential move to a different area of London for one Declan Rice. Having come through the Chelsea Academy (which does apparently exist despite almost all outward indications and having been a West Ham talisman, there’s been plenty of chatter around the idea that Rice favors a move to Arsenal regardless of West Ham’s ability to stave off relegation.
Adrian Clarke said on The Handbrake Off Podcast: “I can’t reveal my source, but I do know that Declan has been sounding out people connected with the club saying: ‘What’s it like [at Arsenal]?’” Even if the answer consists of little more than, “well, it’s better than at West Ham”, that would be enough to inspire the erstwhile Irishman to push for a move away. After all, it’s quite clear that loyalty to one’s boyhood club means very little to a player who’s willing to switch nationalities, but I digress.
Rice spent a great deal of time at the entirely-convenient Winter World Cup with compatriots such as Saka, Ramsdale, and White, each of whom could have testified enthusiastically about their own individual development as well as the collective excitement of sitting top of the league—a stark contrast indeed to the situation over in East London where, despite a massive investment of almost £175m in the summer after reaching the Europa League semifinals, West Ham are barely staving off relegation.
Aged 24 until he’s 25, Rice has to be looking at his next contract. He also has to be looking at his options. Man City are almost surely off the table after their flirtation with financial impropriety. Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham are similarly undesirable for various reasons. Man U might be somewhat more attractive, what with Casemiro aged 30 and Fred 29. Would he fancy pairing with 26 year old McTominay for the foreseeable future, or would he prefer competinng or at least rotating with Xhaka and Partey? That’s a fair question. Man U have looked impressive of late. Much may ride on how they and we fare in the Prem and in the Europa League as well. If Man U miss out on Champions League paly next season, we might as well pencil Rice into the starting lineup (all the more reason to oust them should we our paths cross).
David Moyes, speaking as someone who imagines himself still at the wheel when summer comes, has declared that “Dec will be blowing [Enzo Fernandez’s £107m fee] out of the water, that’s for sure, when it comes around.” In so saying, Moyes has essentially conceded that Rice is making a a move sooner rather than later, and he did so just days ahead of the Prem announcing 113 charges against Man City for various financial improprieties. In other words, this brave new world of astronomical transfer fees may yet enter a cooling off period, allowing saner clubs (such as ours) secure the signing of a player like Rice at somewhat lower fees. After all, if Chelsea are monitoring the investigation into Man City, that’s two clubs no longer distorting the market, at least for the time being.
And that can only be a good thing for the Arsenal.