West Ham sought £9m ex-Arsenal star as Declan Rice’s replacement in the summer transfer window

According to rumours, West Ham is interested in signing Matteo Guendouzi, a former midfielder for Arsenal, to replace Declan Rice this summer.

While West Ham are reportedly willing to sell their captain at the end of the current campaign and are holding out for a £100 million transfer fee, Rice has made it known that he is eager to join a Champions League team in order to advance his career.

Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool are among the Premier League teams interested in acquiring Rice.

The Athletic claims that West Ham is already considering prospective successors for the England international, and that midfielder Guendouzi, an ex-Arsenal player, is on their shortlist.

The 24-year-old’s loan from Arsenal was made permanent last summer for £9 million, and he is now in his second season with Marseille.

Guendouzi, who had a falling out with Mikel Arteta while the two were teammates at Arsenal, is now a vital player in Marseille’s midfield and still has two years left on his deal with the French team.

Meanwhile, Arsenal is hoping to add two midfielders to their squad this summer and is anticipated to make another push for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo in addition to pursuing Rice.

The Gunners made several unsuccessful bids for Caicedo during the January transfer window despite presently being second in the Premier League standings, behind Manchester City.

Given the degree of competition they have with several other Premier League competitors in the running, a move for Rice is also probably going to be challenging for Arsenal.

‘One hundred per cent I want to play in the Champions League,’ Rice said about his future in December. ‘For the last two or three years I’ve been saying that.

‘I’ve been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing. I see my friends here who are playing Champions League and for big trophies.

‘You only get one career and at the end you want to look back at what you’ve won and the biggest games you’ve played in.’