Arsenal should prioritise the signing of Mason Mount this summer because they can’t compete for Declan Rice, according to Glen Johnson.
The Gunners are set to be busy in the summer transfer window, with a top-class midfielder top of their list. Mikel Arteta says the club need to “absolutely nail” their business if they are to close the gap to Manchester City next season.
Arsenal are reportedly willing to break their transfer record to pay £90million to West Ham and offer Rice £300,000-a-week. Rice is their number one priority, but the Gunners will face plenty of competition for his services, with Chelsea and Manchester United among the other clubs keeping an eye on the situation.
According to The Athletic, Arsenal are also interested in Mount, who is likely to leave Chelsea, with his current contract up in June 2024. Former Chelsea defender Johnson believes that, despite their impressive campaign, Arsenal are still some way off attracting players of Rice’s calibre.
“Right now he is hot property and there are so many other teams who are going to want him,” he told Lord Ping. “Arsenal are not going to be able to compete financially when it comes to salary or transfer fees against City or Bayern or PSG – it is just not going to happen.
“I think he would be a great fit at Arsenal because he has the technical ability and he would suit that team down to the ground. But, if he is available, then the bigger teams are going to take him.
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“I think Rice is more likely to go to Chelsea than Arsenal, especially if Mount stays. They are obviously good friends, they go way back.
“Mount to Arsenal is probably the most realistic transfer out of all those scenarios. He is another fantastic player and he would suit that team down to the ground and he would probably cost half the money.”
Central midfield is a particular area of interest for Arsenal, who look set to lose Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen. Rice and Mount are not their only targets – the Gunners are also interested in Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan, who is yet to sign a new deal with the champions.
Mirror Football understands Arsenal want to sign a centre-midfielder, a centre-back, full-back, another midfielder and a right winger to ensure they have more depth to their squad next season.
"Having 3-4 injuries or having a full squad in key moments defines a season,” Arteta said recently. ”So what we have ahead of us in the summer is extremely important and we have to absolutely nail it."
Arsenal will complete their season against Wolves on Sunday. No matter what happens in that game, Arteta’s side are guaranteed to finish second.
