Arsenal could reportedly scrap their swoop for Declan Rice to fund more signings including the West Ham star’s best mate Mason Mount.
Rice was one of two centre midfielders, along with Brighton ace Moises Caicedo, who Arsenal planned to sign this summer. The pair would’ve cost the Gunners over £150million, with Rice comprising £100m of the fee.
But Arsenal’s implosion in their 4-1 loss to title rivals Man City last week has forced boss Mikel Arteta to rethink his transfer strategy. Arsenal’s defensive frailties were exposed against City in the absence of William Saliba, leaving Arteta wanting two new defenders to add some steel at the back, The Sun revealed.
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And the Gunners wouldn’t mind recruiting another winger to go with the pair of defenders, it was added. But Rice may have to be sacrificed to facilitate Arsenal’s squad rebuild at the price West Ham want for him, forcing them to look at cheaper alternatives like Chelsea star Mason Mount – and Leicester City ace Youri Tielemans, the report continued.
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Mount’s got one more year on his Chelsea contract and is yet to pen a new deal, so the Blues could be tempted to let him go on the cheap now instead of losing him for free next summer. And Tielemans won’t cost the Gunners a penny as he’ll be a free agent this summer.
The Gunners have around £150m in their transfer kitty which was boosted after they sealed a spot in next season’s Champions League. Qualification for the European competition means the club will receive a £80m cash boost to add on top of the £70m they already had after failing to land January targets Caicedo and Mykhailo Mudryk.
Valladolid full-back Ivan Fresneda and Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi are also thought to be on the list of transfer targets. However, in the case of Mount, Arsenal will have to fend off interest from Liverpool, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
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