LONDON, England – Arsenal believes they will prevail in the pursuit of Declan Rice after making a £105 million British record deal, according to talkSPORT.

The Gunners are optimistic that their third offer for the England midfielder would be approved by the Hammers despite competition from Manchester City.

The transaction can increase to £105 million. Rice has made it plain that Arsenal is his favourite location. He has also spoken with Newcastle. Arsenal has made a guaranteed bid of £100 million plus add-ons.

If the offer is accepted, it would break the previous record for a British player’s transfer fee of £100 million paid by City to Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in the summer of 2021.

The transfer story took a new turn on Tuesday when the Premier League winners made a proposal for Rice that might have cost up to £90 million. West Ham later rejected the offer.

Former England women’s international Eni Aluko has expressed doubt about Manchester City’s genuine motives in pursuing Declan Rice. Aluko is acquainted with the strategies used in transfer talks because she had served as the director of women’s soccer at Aston Villa.

Aluko offered her viewpoint in a talkSPORT interview, speculating that a cat-and-mouse game might be in progress. She described how she would approach a prestigious club and ask them to submit a bid, which would then compel the owner of her own club to submit a greater proposal in return, drawing on her experience as a sporting director.

Aluko asserts that she thinks Declan Rice’s interest in joining Manchester City could not be sincere. Instead, she says that Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, may have contacted Pep Guardiola, the manager of City, to let him know of Arsenal’s strategy to gradually raise their offer. City may be able to persuade the owner of Arsenal to increase their offer by making a larger bid.

The complex dynamics of transfer talks and the calculated steps used by teams to land their preferred targets are clarified by Aluko’s remarks.

It is clear that Arteta is committed to getting the player he wants. Aluko responded when asked why Arteta took the approach he did, saying it was done to hasten the transfer process.

Aluko further voiced her perplexity on Arsenal’s choice to pursue Declan Rice in stages, implying that West Ham has a definite asking price in mind. She made the assumption that Arsenal’s tactics might suggest that Manchester City’s engagement later in the process might be advantageous to Arsenal. Aluko said that this strategy may have been motivated by the fans’ reaction to Rice possibly joining City rather than Arsenal, especially after he was thought to be their main priority.

Aluko stressed that using such strategies was a regular practice and frequently produced fruitful outcomes, drawing on her own experiences.

Aluko’s observations shed light on Arteta’s drive to close the deal quickly and the potential tactical benefit Arsenal would receive from Manchester City’s involvement. Arsenal’s gradual strategy tries to include the supporters and take advantage of their expectations in the hunt for Rice.

Aluko doesn’t think Guardiola ever wanted Rice. 

Due to Hammers owner David Sullivan’s declaration to talkSPORT that his performance in the club’s victory in the Europa Conference League final would be his last, Rice is in great demand this summer.

City became a late candidate to capture the 24-year-old, particularly following Ilkay Gundogan’s transfer to Barcelona.

Mateo Kovacic, a midfielder for Croatia, was recently recruited by Pep Guardiola’s team from Chelsea.

Kai Havertz of Chelsea and Jurrien Timber of Ajax are both expected to join Arsenal, and both players are expected to be busy in the transfer market.