Manchester City have £90 million bid for Declan Rice rejected, report says

Premier League champions locked in a bidding war with rivals Arsenal for West Ham midfielder's signature

Declan Rice is a wanted man with Manchester City reportedly the latest club to submit an offer to West Ham for his transfer. PA

Manchester City have seen their bid for West Ham United captain Declan Rice, worth a potential £90 million, rejected, according to a report.

The Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday that the Premier League champions' offer of £80m plus a potential £10m in add-ons for the 24-year-old midfielder had been turned down by the Hammers.

The report added that Arsenal, who have already had two bids for Rice rejected by West Ham, are now preparing a third offer to land their primary transfer target.

The Gunners, who finished second to City in the recently concluded 2022/23 Premier League season, were first to tempt West Ham with a £90m offer. It now seems any club wanting to prize Rice away from the London Stadium will have to at least match West Ham's valuation of £100m.

On Monday, several UK publications including The Athletic and Sky Sports reported that City had lodged a formal offer for Rice, while Football Insider claimed Manchester United had also entered the fray by offering defender Harry Maguire in a player swap.

The Hammers board values Rice at £100m and appears will not countenance selling their star player for anything less. It remains to be seen whether City will be prepared to enter into a bidding war for the highly rated England international.

City's resolve to sign Rice means they will almost certainly have to match their record outlay for a player – Jack Grealish signed from Aston Villa in August 2021 for £100m – or break their own transfer record.

Rice has established himself as one of the best midfielders in Europe over the past two seasons and led West Ham to their first trophy in 43 years this month with victory over Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final.

West Ham chairman David Sullivan said a gentleman's agreement means Rice can leave the London Stadium despite a year remaining on his contract with the option to extend it by a further 12 months.

Rice joined West Ham's academy from Chelsea as a teenager and has been ever-present since his breakthrough season in 2017/18. He took over the captaincy after Mark Noble's retirement last year.

Following Ilkay Gundogan's departure for Barcelona, City boss Pep Guardiola is keen to reinforce his midfield and is on the brink of signing Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea for £30m.

City enjoyed the best season in the club's history in 2022/23, becoming only the second English club to win the league, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season.

Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a recent interview that City "won't stand still" as they look to emulate last season's achievements, and adding Rice to an already world-class squad would only back up that claim.

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