Arsenal may have a serious fight on their hands to secure Declan Rice’s signature this summer amid sustained interest from Germany.
Thomas Tuchel is understood to be keen on the prospect of bringing the Englishman to Munich, having kept a watchful eye on the midfielder since his time in the dugout at Stamford Bridge, Christian Falk shared in his exclusive column with CaughtOffside.
“The club’s head coach, Thomas Tuchel, once wanted to bring Declan Rice to Chelsea. Now he’s fighting for him again,” the BILD reporter wrote.
“There was already a meeting in London between Tuchel, Rice and Rice’s father in mid-May. Bayern know that Arsenal want to invest a lot of money to get the player from West Ham. In addition to money, FC Bayern can also offer the prospect of titles.
“Salihamidzic was also present during the conversation. Now Tuchel is continuing the talks, with both the coach and player staying in touch by phone.
“Nobody in Munich knows anything about the rumour that Rice would rather stay in the Premier League and has already ruled out FC Bayern as a destination – they don’t believe that it is true.”
The 24-year-old’s contract at West Ham is set to expire in a year’s time, with it looking highly unlikely that he’ll extend with the Hammers.
Good news for interested parties but Rice won’t go cheaply
Manager David Moyes has already set something of a precedent with his insistence on the player being valued in excess of £100m.
That being said, it’s difficult to see how the club will be able to squeeze such an asking price out of a suitor with the clock ticking down on Rice’s current terms – not without a bidding war at least.
That will, of course, require rolling the dice on a strict approach in the summer – at the risk of losing the player on a free on the following.
One hell of a risk to take when the investment could be put to good use.