'He is going to Arsenal': Journalist claims £60k-a-week ace will join Gunners

Speculation linking Arsenal and Declan Rice has been intensifying in recent weeks.

The Gunners are looking for midfield reinforcements, while Rice wants to play in the Champions League.

Now, talkSPORT’s Ian Abrahams has made a bold, definitive claim about the West Ham star’s future.

“He is going to Arsenal,” Moose said on the radio station on Friday (12/5/2023, 7:16am).

“That’s what I have been told. He is going to Arsenal.”

Arsenal fans will certainly hope Moose is correct. Signing Rice would be a coup for the Gunners.

Over the past few years, he has shown he’s one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

Rice certainly deserves credit for staying loyal to West Ham and doing his best to get them to the top.

Indeed, the £60,000-a-week (Spotrac) star may well end the season with a major trophy.

West Ham lead AZ Alkmaar 2-1 after the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final.

The Hammers have struggled in the Premier League, but they look likely to survive relegation.

They’re seven points clear of the bottom three, with just three games and nine points left to play for.

‘We are aware’

From an Arsenal perspective, this may present some difficulties when it comes to negotiations over Rice.

West Ham will have more leverage in negotiations should they stay up in the Premier League.

At the same time, David Moyes has conceded that Rice may not stay past the summer.

“We honestly hope Dec stays,” football.london quotes the Hammers boss as saying.

“We’d love him to be a West Ham player but we are aware that might not be the case at the end of the season.

“So that’s one of the scenarios around planning.

“There are plans that we have Dec here, but we’re also fully aware there is a good chance that we don’t have him.”

If West Ham do go on to get £100million or more for him, they can use that money to revamp the squad.

It’ll be an interesting transfer saga, but Arsenal will certainly fancy their chances of landing Rice.