Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has named the Arsenal star that every Premier League club would love to sign – Declan Rice. Arsenal spent over £100million last summer to bring in the England international, who recently earned his 50th cap for the Three Lions and even captained the side in a 2-2 draw with Belgium.
Manchester City had also shown interest in Rice when he announced his departure from West Ham. However, they withdrew as Arsenal broke their transfer record to secure him, especially with Rodri, arguably the world’s best midfielder at present, already playing for them at the Etihad Stadium.
This Sunday, Rodri and Rice will face each other for the first time since Rice’s move, in a potentially season-defining clash in Manchester. Despite City’s decision not to pursue Rice, Guardiola is quick to recognise his talent. “Sometimes here we have many players we wanted and they didn’t decide to join us,” Guardiola said. “He’s not the first one who we wanted who didn’t join us. We have a long list.”
He added: “Basically, they don’t want to come or the price or whatever, so it could not happen. He made his decision, a good one, and good luck. All the teams in the Premier League would have signed Declan Rice.” He concluded by saying: “He’s an international captain for the national team of England and a young player playing a lot of games regularly. That’s why Arsenal pushed the way they pushed.”
Arsenal are gearing up for a big match at the Etihad, hoping to avoid a repeat of last season’s heavy 4-1 defeat by Manchester City. Rice, who wasn’t with Arsenal back then, knows it’s a huge challenge. “We have got to go to the Etihad, which is going to be really tough, but if you want to get past that barrier of Arsenal being labelled stuff, you have to go there and win,” Rice shared.
He added: “We have to show that steeliness and character to prove we can be one of the best teams.” Rice also said, “There’s no doubt that City are the best team in the world at the minute, but we have full confidence and belief as a group, and the manager, that we can get a result.”
