Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit claims West Ham star Declan Rice has “no choice” but to join the Gunners in the summer transfer window.
Arsenal are looking to bring in a midfielder over the next couple of windows with recent reports suggesting that the England international is top of their list for the summer transfer window.
The Gunners wouldn’t have been capable of bringing Rice to the club last season if he’d been available but there lofty Premier League position and the prospect of playing in the Champions League football could convince him.
The Guardian claimed on Saturday that Rice is now ‘favouring’ a move to Arsenal over other clubs with Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool also linked in the past.
They say the ‘prospect of playing for Mikel Arteta’ is the main reason why he would choose to join Arsenal over other suitors and the Spaniard has ‘drawn up plans for where the West Ham captain would fit into his team’.
Arsenal are ‘confident of beating Chelsea to his signature’ while Man Utd are ‘also expected to join the race for the 24-year-old’ who is ‘almost certain to leave West Ham’.
And now former Arsenal midfielder Petit thinks there are two good reasons for the England star to move to the Emirates Stadium.
“Declan, if you are listening, my message is very simple,” Petit said on beIN Sports.
“If you want to improve – you are already a great player – and win silverware, you have to come to Arsenal! I’m sorry to West Ham fans, but I think there is no choice for him but to come here [the Emirates Stadium].”
Arteta led his side to a 3-2 victory over Man United on Sunday and, despite their lead over City, the Arsenal boss still reckons everyone else in the league is still playing catch-up to Pep Guardiola’s men.
He told reporters: “I know my team so well. They are good enough to play against these teams and they have done it. We talked about that in the last two or three days.
“We know our reality, we know still how much we have to improve, we know what’s taken us to the position we are today and we have to reinforce that every day.
“I know where we are, I know why we are here and I know where we want to be and we are far from that.
“I know the levels of the other teams and one especially that has won in the last five or six years and we are not there yet.”
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