German giants Bayern Munich are set to rival Premier League runner-up Arsenal for the services of England international midfielder Declan Rice this summer, according to fresh reports from Sky Sport’s Florian Plettenberg.
News #Rice: He‘s one of the desired players of #Tuchel confirmed. Bayern bosses are als convinced that he’s the perfect defensive midfielder for Bayern.
➡️ There were talks with the players management
➡️ Tuchel is 100 % involved.But: Bayern is aware of the fact that… pic.twitter.com/Ld6kDXN3L2
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) May 22, 2023
Plettenberg details a situation that points to Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel listing Rice as a desirable player to focus his retooling around at the Allianz Arena this summer after the German juggernaut is officially in danger of missing out on three separate pieces of silverware across the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal since the former Chelsea managers return to the German top flight.
Tuchel is said to have the backing at board level for a possible move for the 24-year-old West Ham United on-pitch figurehead, with the likes of club sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić and club executive Oliver Kahn viewing him as the perfect defensive midfielder.
Talks with Rice’s representatives are said to have already taken place, with Tuchel directly involved in the initial opening of communication channels.
The stumbling block, however, is the price. Despite Bayern’s stature as one of Europe’s true elite clubs, the pricetag placed on Rice’s head – somewhere in the region of £90m – amid serious interest from Arsenal, would shatter Bayern’s club record transfer fee of €80m they paid for Lucas Hernández in 2019. That fee could potentially drop to £70m (€80m) given that West Ham would not be able to add on the “Premier League” tax associated with a move to a domestic club but is still considered a possible transfer target that could be well out of reach for Säbener Straße.
Rumblings that Bayern star Joshua Kimmich could potentially seek an exit from the club this summer will no doubt fuel speculation surrounding a growing interest in Rice, but at the current time, no clear pathway has presented itself.
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