Arsenal fear history repeating itself and will end up having to concede defeat in the race to sign captain .
The international has been earmarked as the Gunners’ No.1 transfer target this summer with Mikel Arteta keen to oversee an overhaul of his midfield engine room.
Arsenal gave indication of their plans in January when they made a club-record bid for Brighton’s but, after the Seagulls refused to countenance the 21-year-old’s departure, instead settled for Jorginho who has proven to be an effective stop gap.
Arteta remains interested in the Ecuador international but Rice represents the priority and has been identified as .
Competition to sign the 24-year-old will be intense and although Rice is said to be keen on a move to north London, Chelsea, Liverpool and both Manchester giants are carefully monitoring the situation.
With the Premier League elite all in the market for midfield reinforcements, the Hammers are counting on something of a bidding war and will only entertain offers in excess of £100million.
and, as such, the north London club are concerned history will repeat itself.
Chelsea blew their rivals out of the water in January when they hijacked Arsenal’s move for Mykhailo Mudryk and are positioning themselves to do the same again where Rice is concerned, according to .
Indeed, that is a fear shared by former Arsenal defender Martin Keown who believes Rice will end up being simply too expensive for his old club to afford.
‘I think Declan Rice is going to be too expensive for Arsenal, quite frankly,’ Keown told talkSPORT.
‘I think he will be too expensive for Liverpool as well who have been in the Champions League now for a number of years.
‘He’s a player Arsenal will like but not with those costs involved, I think it’s too much. Looking at Arsenal’s business, I don’t think it’s a route they will go down.
‘I don’t think they’ve got the money, even though the Champions League will bring some more revenue. I don’t see him as a player Arsenal can afford to buy.’
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