‘It could have been interesting’ – Thomas Tuchel reacts to Bayern Munich missing out on Declan Rice to Arsenal

Declan Rice snubbed Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich to join Arsenal (Photo: Arsenal FC/Twitter)

Thomas Tuchel has said new Arsenal signing Declan Rice would have made for an ‘interesting’ addition to his Bayern Munich squad.

Rice completed his much anticipated, record-breaking £105million transfer to the Gunners on Saturday.

It brings to an end one of the longest and most intriguing transfer sagas of the past few years, with the biggest clubs around Europe battling to sign the former West Ham captain.

Bayern, Chelsea and Manchester United, were among those to miss out on his signature, with the Bundesliga champions entering the race for the defensive midfielder late on.

But they were eventually priced out of the move, which will have no doubt disappointed Tuchel who was said to be a huge fan of the 24-year-old having witnessed his impressive performances first-hand while he was Chelsea boss.

Asked about Bayern’s failed pursuit of Rice, the German manager said: ‘It could have been an interesting addition to have a player with his character in the squad.

‘He’s a good player and he went to a good club. He has a profile that I don’t think we have in the squad. It could be interesting to have it.’

Tuchel first encountered Rice when the pair were at Chelsea and West Ham respectively (Photo: Getty)

Rice is not the only English star that Tuchel has been pursuing however, with Manchester City defender Kyle Walker also on his shortlist.

More notably, Bayern are the favourites to sign Tottenham striker Harry Kane, though striking a deal for the Three Lions captain is proving hard with Spurs rejecting the Germans’ second offer of £70m.

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Asked about the links to Kane, Tuchel said: ‘I have a very boring answer: I do not comment on players who are not with us.

‘It’s well known that we are looking for a Number 9. If we find someone that fits in, then we’ll go all in. If we don’t find anyone, we’re happy with our squad. But we need more patience.’

MORE : Mikel Arteta and Edu break silence on Arsenal smashing transfer record to sign Declan Rice

MORE : Pep Guardiola eyeing Manchester United target to replace Manchester City legend Kyle Walker

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Bayern tried to make a late swoop for Rice.