Declan Rice: Liverpool duo mentioned as England star tipped to have colossal Arsenal impact; Man City warning issued

Declan Rice has been told he could emulate two brilliant Liverpool players by transforming Arsenal, with the West Ham captain also being urged to avoid a Manchester City switch.

Rice is close to leaving West Ham after rejecting multiple offers to extend his contract there. The Irons have told him he can go, but only if their £100million valuation is met.

Arsenal have had bids worth £80m and £90m rejected so far. They are expected to come back with an improved third offer which could get very close to that £100m figure.

As per Fabrizio Romano, City are preparing to rival Arsenal by submitting a major proposal of their own. Given the huge finances at Pep Guardiola’s disposal, it is likely City will be able to match West Ham’s demands straight away.

The transfer could come down to Rice’s preference. And The Guardian claim he wants to stay near London, where his family lives, which gives Arsenal the upper hand.

During an appearance on talkSPORT, former Chelsea and Marseille striker Tony Cascarino discussed Rice’s future. He backed the England international to have a similar impact on Arsenal as Virgil van Dijk and Alisson did at Liverpool.

READ MORE: Havertz deal spooks Arsenal forward with West Ham among three clubs ready to pounce

“If you look at Arsenal, since Arteta came in December 2019, that season they got 56 points,” the pundit said.

“He hadn’t played a part earlier in the season, the next season they got 61, the next season they got 69.

Declan Rice to accelerate Arsenal ‘upward curve’

“And last year they got 84, so there’s a real upward curve at Arsenal.

“Declan Rice would make the impact that Alisson and Van Dijk made at Liverpool by coming.”

Cascarino then explained why Rice should sign for Arsenal over City.

“It’s an easy choice – Man City is an easy choice as in they could easily win the double next year and maybe more,” he added.

“That’s the thing you’ve got to really consider, but how big a part do you really play in that if you go to Manchester City?

“Because it’s not impossible that they could spend £100m and he could be a bit-part player at Man City.

“Some people might laugh at that, well that’s exactly the first season of Jack Grealish.”

Cascarino continued: “I do think there is a very high possibility that he won’t play as much football as he would like.”

However, former Liverpool and City goalkeeper David James does not agree. He recently told Sky Sports: “Why would he [Rice] want to play for Arsenal? One team are the European, FA Cup and Premier League champions – the other is neither, or none.”

James also suggested Rice should consider a move to Bayern. This is because they do not play West Ham on a regular basis, and Irons supporters would struggle to see the midfielder come up against them.

Bayern have expressed an interest in landing Rice, although they have become aware of his desire to stay in England. And now it looks like Arsenal are in pole position to win the race for him.

Meanwhile, a respected journalist has revealed Arsenal are ‘on the verge’ of signing an Eredivisie star in addition to Rice and Kai Havertz.