Arsenal surely aren’t about to blow £120million on one player, even if that one player is Declan Rice.
That’s how much West Ham are supposedly set to demand for the England international this summer, according to Sky Sports, who also name the Emirates Stadium as his most likely destination, despite interest from other top clubs as well.
While there’s no doubt Rice is a world class talent who could help take Mikel Arteta’s side to another level, it seems very un-Arsenal to invest quite so much in one go, and unless that price tag ends up shifting downwards in the coming weeks or months, the Gunners will surely look elsewhere.
There is no shortage of alternatives on the market right now, with Ben Jacobs recently writing exclusively for CaughtOffside about their interest in Brighton’s Moises Caicedo in that position, with Football Insider stating that he’d be available at almost half the price West Ham want for Rice – £70m.
Both are top players, and there’s not a lot between them, so Arsenal will surely look at Caicedo as the better value option there, while the Ecuador international has also spoken very highly of the club, suggesting he’d welcome the opportunity to join them again.
Caicedo spoke openly to the Telegraph about Arsenal’s approach for him in January, and made it clear he was a big fan of their project. It will be interesting in the weeks and months ahead to see if Rice tries anything similar, which could be one way to push the Hammers into lowering their demands.
If Arsenal do decide to pay £70m for Caicedo instead, they could then have £50m or so to spare on another midfielder, which could be useful if there ends up being anything more serious to the Mirror‘s report on Granit Xhaka being a target for Bayer Leverkusen.
![brighton hove albion caicedo](https://vcpsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Moises-Caicedo-still-a-target.jpg)
Could Mason Mount be the man for AFC? The Guardian have recently reported that the England international, who is approaching the final year of his Chelsea contract, could move for a cut-price fee of just £50m this summer.
Initial talks may have taken place, according to Goal, so it could be that Arsenal end up shaping their midfield around Caicedo and Mount next season, rather than putting all their eggs in one basket in the form of Rice.
![man city vs chelsea mason mount 2023](https://vcpsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Exclusive-Liverpool-and-other-clubs-waiting-to-find-out-Chelsea.jpg)
At some point, Arsenal…
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