Tim Sherwood thinks Arsenal will sign £75m player and not Declan Rice this summer

Tim Sherwood believes that Arsenal will miss out on Declan Rice this summer and sign Moises Caicedo instead.

He was speaking to Sam Allardyce on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast about Arsenal’s potential movements this summer.

Mikel Arteta has identified several targets to improve his midfield options.

With Granit Xhaka moving on, a space in the starting line-up will need to be brought in.

Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe will hope they can earn a place in the side, but Arsenal will almost certainly recruit at least one new player.

Declan Rice has been heavily linked with a move to The Emirates.

There are other suitors such as Manchester United and Bayern Munich, but Arsenal will hope they can get a deal over the line.

They’re also very keen on Moises Caicedo, who will leave Brighton at some point in the summer after being denied a January move.

Sherwood believes Arsenal will sign Caicedo but miss out on Rice, with the West Ham star instead joining another Premier League team.

If the Gunners could somehow sign both, it would be expensive but worth it given their talents.

Sherwood backs Caicedo, not Rice to join Arsenal

Asked about both midfielder’s futures, Sherwood said: “I think [Moises] Caicedo might go there [to Arsenal], that’s why I’m saying that.

“I think Caicedo goes to Arsenal instead of Declan [Rice] and they don’t need them both, so that’s why I think Declan will go to United.”

Plenty of Arsenal fans will disagree with Sherwood’s assumption that they don’t need Rice and Caicedo.

Mikel Arteta showed towards the end of the season he’s not completely confident in Thomas Partey’s abilities.

The Ghanaian dropped to the bench for three games before being played at right-back against Nottm Forest and Wolves.

Rice and the £75m-rated Caicedo found both feasibly be seen as upgrades on Partey, with the other filling the vacant Xhaka role.

Arsenal are also going to need more squad depth with a Champions League campaign on the horizon.

Bringing in both midfielders would allow Arteta to rotate a lot more than he did last season.