Paul Merson was blown away by a 24-year-old player Arsenal could reportedly sign now.
Arsenal are reportedly on the verge of signing Declan Rice from West Ham United this summer, and Paul Merson thinks he’ll take the Gunners to the next level.
Mikel Arteta and Edu have been busy in this window. Kai Havertz is the only one who has been brought in so far, but deals for Rice and Jurrien Timber are both said to be almost done.
24-year-old Rice is the big one – he’ll cost Arsenal a club-record fee. Merson has sent a message on Twitter to some fans who are complaining about the price.
Paul Merson says Declan Rice will take Arsenal to the next level
Arsenal had a great campaign last time out despite how it finished.
They spent over two-thirds of the season on top of the Premier League, went toe-to-toe with the best team in Europe, and only fell apart after an injury to William Saliba.
Mikel Arteta has built the right foundations at Arsenal to mount another challenge next season, and adding a player like Declan Rice into the mix only makes the Gunners stronger.
Fabrizio Romano revealed last night that Arsenal and West Ham have reached a full agreement for the transfer of Rice, who should have his medical in the coming days to seal the move.
Merson spotted some Arsenal fans having a go at the reported £105 million fee. He has now sent a message to all of them.
He said: “I hear a lot of Arsenal fans complaining about it being a lot of money… if they don’t sign him they still won’t take money off their season tickets so it makes no difference!
“He will take Arsenal to the next level”
Our View:
An argument can be made that £105 million is an outrageous sum of money to spend on one player, but that’s how the market works these days.
It’s no longer the case of how much a player is worth – it’s more a case of how much the player is worth to a club.
Arsenal think £105 million on Rice is money well spent considering they have agreed to pay that much to sign him this summer. Nothing else really matters.
It will be interesting to see how Rice will deal with the pressure of his price tag next season.