For Arsenal FC and their supporter base, it’s time to move on to the summer transfer window. Yes, one game remains but it is essentially dead rubber, so let’s talk midfielder transfer rumors instead- how about Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice? The North Londoners really should make a statement signing this transfer window, and Rice and/or Caicedo would definitely be that. (Especially so if it were both)
Let’s start with the latter, who is strongly being linked to both Arsenal and Chelsea, with Gunners said to be in pole position for the 21-year-old Brighton & Hove Albion star man.
??? | TRANSFERS: Arsenal to ‘sacrifice’ targets for £170m duo.
?: According to Football365, Arsenal will sacrifice other targets this summer if it means they land Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo.
??: “Arsenal are willing to abandon their other transfer plans this summer in… pic.twitter.com/bhzYLXA0G1
— Punch Drunk Arsenal (@PunchDrunkAFC) May 23, 2023
Arsenal are leading the way because Caicedo is keen to play Champions League football next season, and they can off that, via their second place finish in the table. Chelsea won’t even finish on the first page of the standings.
Moises Caicedo actually formally said his goodbyes to the Seagulls and their fans back (Whoops! Oops, so much for that!) in the January window, as both clubs bid on him, but Brighton rejected those overtures.
This window, Roberto De Zerbi and his team are resigned to the fact that he will leave, and they’ll get £70-80 million for him, according to Football Insider. Alexis Mac Allister will inevitably be on the move too.
“We can offer Moises [Caicedo] and Alexis [Mac Allister] the opportunity to play in Europe,” De Zerbi said today, ahead of his side’s final home game this season, against Manchester City tomorrow.
“Our level is bigger now. They are very good guys and it will help. I think for myself and the club but also for the players – they have one life and we can’t decide for them.”
Moving on to Rice, we’ve seen endless narratives linking him with a return to Chelsea, his youth club the past couple years. (Although his ending there probably wasn’t what he really wanted)
The West Ham star man will certainly leave East London this summer. This has been a major talking point during all broadcasts of Hammers games recently. Are Chelsea still in the running though?
Remember, Rice literally said, while with England at the World Cup a few months, he wants or needs to play Champions League football next season.
Football.London have more on the Declan Rice Derby between Chelsea and Arsenal. Their article has a citation to FootballTransfers, who claim that Rice’s price tag will be in between £85-£95m.
Maybe a bidding war erupts and Declan Rice moves into 100 million territory? In that case, maybe the true front-runner is neither Arsenal nor Chelsea, but Manchester United, according to some reports.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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