Declan Rice

[Dribble]

I do think he'd be a good signing but they've been in talks with West Ham since January or February. My guess is Arsenal thought they'd have a free run and could pay less than West Ham want.

They've had no such problem with offering big money for Havertz. To me, that looks like they've fucked up their priorities and they've only got themselves to blame for if they don't get Rice.

To be fair, City have been in similar situations several times before.

I just watched that Talksport video featuring some City fan who sounded like some country yokel chewing on a straw.

It was put to him that City were only showing interest in Rice to drive up the price Arsenal had to pay, & he cited Maguire & several other transfers where we dropped out.

The "City Fan" actually agreed with him! HOWEVER, as City fans, we know City have their valuations & if the selling club try to take the piss, or involve us in an auction, we'll step away. It's git fuck all to do with us trying to up the price our rivals end up paying.

We valued Maguire at £65m plus £7m in achievable add-ons. Leicester wanted £85m, so we left our offer with them. ManUre then stepped in & matched their valuation.

We went on to get Laporté instead & the rest is history...

 

[hello]

Give me a fucking 6 pack any day of the week.

Unless across the pond our packs tend to be 4, 8, or 12. 6 packs are rare as rocking horse shit. I would recommend the 8 pack to cover options or step up to the 12 if venturing in the matchday thread for sanity's sake.

 

[r.soleofsalford]

Love it.

Ive had a few in work throw a hissy fit. Saying league is over next year already no one can compete and city can do whatever they want. PL is new bundesliga

Be prepared, take a box of tissues to work and as soon as they start with the mard lip pass them a tissue.

 

[Thaksinssoldier]

Radio silence.

 

[Dribble]

i imagine he`s been told to shut the fuck up and stop the public leaking

To be fair, Rice is Sullivan's player to do as he wishes. His first priority is to get the best price for his club, his second priority is to resist selling to a London rival if possible.

Never seen a club or fans so happy to sell their star player! They probably reasoned he'd outgrown them, so WHU made a gents agreement with Declan to sell him.

However, unlike the Mental Midget at Spurs, the Hammers kept their word, albeit with a hefty price tag.

Hammers fans would rather see Rice arrive in Manchester over Stamford Bridge or the Emirates, but once the Hammers get the offer they're happy with, the choice comes down to Declan & personally I've seen nothing outside of speculation to suggest Arsenal aren't in pole position.

They've been putting in the hard yards for months & that must count for something with the player.

 

[PJM1891]

Radio silence.

Quiet before the storm.

 

[BringBackSwales]

Havertz was used as a Centre Forward at Chelsea, but was a No 8 when he excelled at Leverkusen. Arteta wants him as a No 8/No 10 which would leave them relying on Jesus & Nketia for the CF goals.

They've got goals all through the team, so it's a good purchase, BUT £65m is a chunk to pay! I reckon he's worth £40m - £45m imo...

If they’ve paid £25m over the odds how is that a good purchase?

 

[DMA's]

Radio silence.

Assume you haven’t heard anymore from the rice camp?

 

[Dribble]

If they’ve paid £25m over the odds how is that a good purchase?

He's a good player who'll add to Arsenal, albeit in my personal opinion I reckon he's worth £20m - £25m less.

However, a player's only worth what the buyer's willing to pay. Arsenal just happen to value Havertz more than I do...

 

[Brad mcfc]

Nope. Be Arsenal or us. Has already rejected Bayern.

Just a reminder to people that Rice turned his back on the Republic of Ireland to play for England, despite the backlash, because he said he wanted to win things and play in major tournaments.

Appreciate the info as usual.

 

[Jokithedruid]

At 9am yesterday, Sullivan briefed off record that City were lodging a bid before lunchtime.

He's now keeping quiet.

So this info is from west han not city? Hmmm

 

[oldius]

I think what is very clear is that Arsenal are making every effort to support the manager and to become a very serious player. That is attractive, as is the opportunity to stay in London if your family are settled there. Meanwhile, we offer the here and now, the best of the best, and the chance to play with and learn from some of the finest players in the world game.

 

[Xhavenjoe]

If Rice had stayed with Ireland, he would be playing on a paddy field.

 

[JimmyGrimble10]

Radio silence.

Any idea why?

 

[richards30]

I think what is very clear is that Arsenal are making every effort to support the manager and to become a very serious player. That is attractive, as is the opportunity to stay in London if your family are settled there. Meanwhile, we offer the here and now, the best of the best, and the chance to play with and learn from some of the finest players in the world game.

If we offer the same as the arse though he will go there imo and if Pep wants him then we have to outbid them lot and also back our manager?

 

[Manc123]

It would be a bizarre policy to force the price up on a player, when it also then sets the market rate, elsewhere!!

There really are some stupid fucking people out there.

I'm guessing the so called 'fan' is buvey..... He's says things just to wind people up and get a reaction. He works with that Jennings fella who also talks crap.... So your assumption of stupid people fits them perfectly

 

[richards30]

I'm guessing the so called 'fan' is buvey..... He's says things just to wind people up and get a reaction. He works with that Jennings fella who also talks crap.... So your assumption of stupid people fits them perfectly

two absolute fucking idiots

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

And 2 years of Pep is worth a lifetime

2 years of Pep is a football PhD. Sets you up for your career. Even players that didn't "make it" at City have better connections, discipline, tactics and ultimately careers because of the Pep touch. They sing his praises. We've been shifting academy players who had a few training sessions with him for £10m because of the assumption that they'll be tactically diverse players.

 

[havefaith]

I've seen so many Arsenal fans asking how we can afford to pay for Rice right now.

They've long forgotten what prize money is.

A handy reminder for them, the rags and the scousers :-)

 

[Dobsy]

There's nothing in it for Rice to lie to us if his only choice remains Arsenal.

It pushes the fee up for Arsenal and also impacts negatively the wages he would receive from them.

Sullivan is the fly in the ointment, he is the one briefing our interest and bid timelines.

He's doing his job for his Club, but we can't control the messaging because of it.

Sure, "lied" is probably too strong a term tbf, it would be better to say that we've been told "yes" by plenty of people before who have then chosen to go elsewhere, so I'm not getting giddy.

Do you mean it would negatively impact the wages because they'd take the transfer money out of the wage packet? I'm not certain that follows necessarily because we see regularly see agents stoking bidding wars to play off clubs for wage offers.Why would they do this?