Arsenal have been on the hunt for Declan Rice for a number of months at this point, but, as of yet, they’ve been unable to strike a deal.
Of course, it’s still early days in the transfer window, and there’s plenty of time for Arsenal to negotiate with West Ham, but the clock is certainly ticking and with West Ham’s asking price sitting at over £100m, it’s going to be tough for Arsenal to get a deal done.
However, according to The Sun, the Gunners do have one route to making this deal happen, and it involves a swap deal.
Indeed, West Ham are apparently keen for Emile Smith Rowe to come to the London Stadium in a deal that would see the player described by Tomas Soucek as a ‘very good finisher’ go the other way.
This puts Arsenal in something of an awkward situation.
David Ornstein has reported that Arsenal don’t have any plans to sell Smith Rowe this summer, but at the same time, they really want to sign Rice.
Make no mistake about it, Rice would be a more important player for Arsenal than Smith Rowe is.
The harsh reality is that Smith Rowe is the third choice in both of his favoured positions. Martin Odegaard and Fabio Vieira are ahead of him in the number 10 position, while Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli are the first choice options down the left.
Meanwhile, Declan Rice would come in and immediately be the first-choice midfielder in this side, and Arsenal need to weigh up the positives and negatives of the idea of this swap deal.
This is a transfer that Arsenal really want to happen this summer, and if they need to sacrifice Smith Rowe to sign Rice, then so be it.
The post Report: Arsenal could now end up signing ‘very good finisher’ in a swap deal appeared first on The Boot Room.
Next
