Man City chiefs clear they will move for marquee man after Haaland, Pep called him 'exceptional'

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Manchester City are interested in signing West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice in the upcoming summer transfer window. 

The 23-year-old has enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence for both club and country in the last 18 months and has been the centre of heightened speculation regarding a possible move away.

Following a report from The Guardian confirming that Rice had recently rejected a third contract offer from West Ham, a summer switch looks increasingly likely for the former Chelsea academy starlet.

Now it appears that Pep Guardiola could be about to make a beeline for the London-born midfielder…

As per the report from the Daily Mail, City are believed to be ‘ready to launch’ a move for the 29-cap England man.

As well as this, ‘City bosses have made it clear they can go after Rice’ as Eastlands officials set their sights on him – even after they’ve already ‘agreed’ a deal for Borussia Dortmund star Erling Braut Haaland.

Amidst strong interest from rivals Manchester United, the report claims that the Citizens have asked West Ham to ‘keep them informed’ regarding any developments on Rice.

Unsurprisingly the over £100million valuation is billed as a ‘sticking point’ in any attempt to bring the man once hailed as ‘exceptional’ by Guardiola to Eastlands.

Whilst it would almost certainly shatter the £105.7million record expenditure spent on Jack Grealish in the summer of 2021, signing Rice would be a superb piece of business at almost any price.

Capable of operating as a conventional defensive midfielder and as a centre-back, the Englishman should be viewed as the ideal candidate to replace departing Sky Blues stalwart Fernandinho by director of football Txiki Begiristain.

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