Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, views West Ham’s Declan Rice as his future captain, as he tries to fight off Manchester City’s interest in the player.
City are ready to move for Rice after Ilkay Gundogan decided to move to Barcelona as a free agent.
The Gunners have already seen two offers turned down by West Ham, the most recent worth a total £90million. The bid was worth a guaranteed £75million plus an extra £15m in performance-related add ons.
West Ham are demanding a minimum £100million for Rice, while they also prefer the guaranteed part of the fee be paid in two instalments by the end of 2025.
Arsenal remain ahead in the race to sign the 24-year-old midfielder and according to Mail Sport, Arteta believes Rice will one day become captain of Arsenal if he signs.
There is however no immediate plan to give Rice the armband with Martin Odegaard currently the skipper of the team.
