Transfer Rumour: Arsenal in for West Ham United wonderkid Declan Rice

Arsenal are reportedly interested in bringing West Ham United wonder boy Declan Rice over to the Emirates.

The Sun are claiming that Arsenal are showing interest in West Ham United starlet Declan Rice. The 17-year-old centre-back is reportedly on the brink of breaking into the first-team setup under Slaven Bilic and is now being monitored by their London rivals, Arsenal.

Declan Rice is a 17-year-old Republic of Ireland central defender who is regarded as one of the best up-and-coming outstanding prospects in British football. The defender has been named the captain for the season for the Hammers’ Under-23 side, which play in the Premier League 2 and has already put in impressive performances with more than half of the season left to go.

Rice has even broken into the Republic of Ireland’s national Under-21 side. Hammers manager Slaven Bilic has been impressed with the player’s performances in the matches during the pre-season tour against the likes of Rubin Kazan and Slovacko.

West Ham have struggled to get going this season and their latest defeat, a 5-1 drubbing at home to Arsenal piled further agony on Bilic and his men. One of their talented whizkids, Reece Oxford is already being tailed by Manchester United and Manchester City, and now Arsenal are tracking another one of their impressive young talent in Declan Rice.

Rice has 3 years on his current deal and it is believed that Arsenal would need to shelve out a considerable amount of fee in order to secure a transfer for the player, if West Ham do end up agreeing to part with their young talent.

Arsenal have already inflicted some heavy wounds with a 5-1 win over the Hammers this weekend and are now preparing to add insult to injury with a potential approach for Declan Rice on the cards. West Ham, though, can tempt the player into staying by promising him some level of involvement in the first-team setup soon, something that Arsenal are unlikely to be able to provide currently.

Arsenal, though, can provide Rice with a taste of Europe, with the Gunners also playing in the UEFA youth league, a youth iteration of the UEFA Champions League with identical teams and groups compared to the Champions League.

It would be interesting to see if Arsenal converts their interest into a real approach and whether Rice considers the move away from West Ham in the near future.