West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has already been full of praise for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, amid reports of a Gunners swoop for the England star.
The likes of Chelsea and Manchester United have been long-time admirers of Rice, who took over as West Ham captain this season after Mark Noble's retirement. However, league leaders Arsenal have been tipped to steal a march on their rivals with a £75m swoop over the summer.
Rice's West Ham team threatened to upset Arsenal back on Boxing Day, taking the lead at the Emirates Stadium before conceding three second-half goals to lose in north London. Rice was asked about the high-flyers after the game, and his comments about Arteta may well be music to the Gunners' ears.
"100 per cent," Rice said at the time when asked if he felt Arsenal were capable of winning the title. "They are a top team. You can see they are coached incredibly well, have a lot of attacking talent, a young squad and they can go the whole way for sure.
"First half we tried as hard as we could to stop them, we came up short and it's frustrating. It's a tough one because first half even though we didn't have much of the ball we defended really well, had a plan, went one-nil up but you can't sustain that for 90 minutes against a team like Arsenal, it's the same against City.
"In the end one of their chances will lead to something, with their free-flowing football they managed to get through. Then your backs are against the wall and it's down to us to keep going and we tried to do that but we couldn't, we couldn't get up the pitch, they smothered us."
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According to The Times, Arsenal have identified Rice as their primary summer target. The 24-year-old is expected to set them back around £75m, though this is lower than previous asking prices hinted at by West Ham.
A regular for England at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, Rice made his 200th senior appearance for West Ham earlier this season. He scored his first goal for the club in a win against Arsenal back in 2019, and hasn't missed a minute this season as the east London side battle against relegation.
He was also a key figure last season as West Ham reached the semi-finals of the Europa League. However, having yet to feature in the Champions League, he put potential suitors on high alert with comments made during the World Cup.
"I've been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing," he said in December. "I see my friends here [with England at the World Cup in Qatar], who are playing Champions League and competing for big trophies.
"You only get one career and at the end of it you want to look back at what you've won and the biggest games you've played in. I really want to do that."
