EXCLUSIVE: Man City set to join Man Utd in £100m race for Declan Rice

Manchester City will send an early riposte to Erik ten Hag by joining the summer battle for West Ham's £100million England star Declan Rice.

City, who have been gazumped by United in recent years for Alexis Sanchez and Cristiano Ronaldo, are ready to back Pep Guardiola in the transfer market and dent Ten Hag's impact at Old Trafford following his appointment last week.

Though a deal for £63million Dortmund striker Erling Haaland has already been agreed, City bosses have made it clear they can go after Rice as well with club captain Fernandinho departing to leave a vacancy in midfield.

City's net spend over the past 12 months has been a modest £37million with the record signing of Jack Grealish mostly offset by selling Ferran Torres, Jack Harrison and Angelino.

It gives the current Premier League champions a huge financial advantage over United who want to build a new-look team around Rice but whose budget will be restricted should they miss out on qualifying the Champions League.

In addition, the prospect of challenging for trophies under Pep Guardiola would be more attractive to 23-year-old Rice than having to help rebuild a club which needs 'open-heart surgery' according to their current interim Ralf Rangnick.

It's understood that City have already requested to be kept informed of Rice's future plans and made it clear they are a viable destination.

The only sticking point would be West Ham's valuation. Last summer, they refused to match the £150million asking price demanded by Tottenham for Harry Kane believing the price was inflated.

Rice, who has captained West Ham for most of this season, has not engaged in signing a new contract as he assesses his options.

Ideally, he would like a return to Chelsea who released him