‘Ideally’: Journalist says ‘very good finisher’ wants to join Arsenal in an ideal world

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Declan Rice’s ideal scenario would still see him join Arsenal this summer.

Manchester City are now entering the race to sign Rice, but according to Dean Jones, speaking on the Chasing Green Arrows YouTube channel, Rice would still, ideally, like to join Arsenal.

Of course, the decision doesn’t fully lie in Rice’s hands. If Arsenal don’t cough up the necessary cash to West Ham, then the deal won’t go ahead, but the fact remains that the 24-year-old would still like to join the Gunners above any other club.

Rice would ideally join Arsenal

Jones shared what he knows about the ‘very good finisher’.

“There is a lot that has gone on up to this moment. They are still the frontrunners. Rice is a family man, there’s no doubt about that, it’s a very close unit he has and he has a young child, but Manchester is not far away and Rice is a grown man and he could get his head around that if the Arsenal thing totally didn’t work out,” Jones said.

“He does (want to join Arsenal), ideally he does and ideally he will get what he wants. It’s all a part of the negotiating tactics, it’s very rare for a club to just give a player what they want straight away, but they have to show there is scope for negotiation.”

Understandable

It’s not hard to understand why Rice wants to join Arsenal above any other club.

It’s in London, they’re playing in the Champions League, and there’s a spot there just waiting for him in the first-team.

Compare that to Manchester City, where he’d have to move up north and potentially spend a lot of time sitting on the bench behind Rodri.

This is a no-brainer for Rice, but, as ever, this will come down to whether or not Arsenal are willing to pay up for the player himself.