Declan Rice is intent on joining Arsenal this summer (Allstar via Getty)
Declan Rice is expecting to be an Arsenal player by the start of July as the Gunners prepare a second bid for West Ham’s captain.
Mikel Arteta has made Rice one of his top targets for the summer transfer window and Arsenal are keen to quickly complete a deal for the England international.
An offer of £80 million was rejected by West Ham last week, and the club are hoping to spark a bidding war between several teams.
However, MailOnline reports that Rice is intent on joining Arsenal and expects to join the Premier League runners-up by the end of the month.
The report also claims that Arsenal have ‘verbally indicated’ to West Ham that their second offer will be in excess of £100m.
Rice played 59 minutes in England’s 7-0 win over North Macedonia on Monday evening and is now due to go on holiday this week.
After the game, the midfielder posed alongside Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka with the match ball following his first career hat-trick.
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Meanwhile, Arsenal have submitted an improved offer to Chelsea for Kai Havertz.
A £45m bid was rejected by Chelsea last week but it’s understood that Arsenal have returned with a proposal worth £60m.
Havertz has made it clear that he will not sign a new contract with Chelsea, which puts the club under pressure to sell this summer as they do not want the forward to enter the final 12 months of his deal.
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Rice wants to become an Arsenal player this summer.
