Arsenal are ready to do ‘whatever it takes’ to lure West Ham midfielder Declan Rice to the Emirates Stadium this summer, according to reports.

The England international has been linked with the Gunners over the last few months with Mikel Arteta’s side now having a realistic chance of landing the 24-year-old.

Arsenal beat Aston Villa 4-2 at the weekend to go back to the top of the Premier League and, as title challengers and probable Champions League qualifiers, the Gunners have put themselves in a great position to compete for some of the best players in the world.

Rice has been heavily linked with a number of clubs ahead of the summer with the West Ham midfielder admitting recently that he wants to play Champions League football as soon as possible.

He has taken his game to another level in recent seasons and his performances in the Premier League and at the Euros and World Cup for England have made several clubs take notice.

Arsenal – who have one of the youngest squads in the Premier League – are particularly interested with CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs recently revealing that Rice is their “midfield priority” for the summer transfer market.

Jaocbs told Caught Offside earlier this month: “Arsenal’s midfield priority will be Declan Rice and West Ham are resigned to losing him. David Moyes, as you’d expect, has been quick to argue if Rice leaves it should be for a British-record transfer fee. But suitors are hoping for a fee of £70-80m. This is ultimately because Rice’s contract expires in summer 2024.

“But Chelsea’s big-spending could inflate the market and thus Rice’s price. You can understand why selling clubs, especially for top-tier central midfielders, will point to Enzo Fernandez’s £107m fee and ask for something similar.

“I still think Rice will go for cheaper than that, but how much so will depend on whether West Ham get a bit of a bidding war.

“Chelsea also really want Rice. Manchester United and Newcastle United can’t be ruled out either, although I understand Rice’s preference is to stay in London. That won’t be a deal-breaker, but Arsenal and Chelsea can certainly use it to their advantage.

“Rice also wants Champions League football. Whether or not that means instantly remains to be seen, but Arsenal can clearly use this to their advantage given where they are heading. Rice has also spoken glowingly about Arteta.

“So it’s probably fair to term Arsenal the favourites right now, but as we saw with their pursuit of Mykhaylo Mudryk that doesn’t always mean a huge deal this far out. If Chelsea offer big or above market value money, Arsenal would have to go against their transfer-market principles.”

And now Spanish publication Nacional claim that Arsenal have offered Rice ‘a truly crazy contract’ to convince him to snub interest from Real Madrid and elsewhere to make the move to north London.

Rice is ‘on Real Madrid’s agenda’ this summer with Los Blancos weighing up whether to make a ‘firm offer’ last summer before finally ‘ruling it out’.

Real Madrid are currently ‘not willing to pay’ West Ham’s asking price with the England international’s contract at West Ham expiring in June 2024.

And now Arsenal ‘at the request of Mikel Arteta is preparing an XXL investment’ with Rice their ‘priority objective’ for the summer.

The Gunners ‘will pay whatever it takes’ to land Rice in the next transfer window and with Arteta asking the board ‘for more’ after the signing of Jorginho, Arsenal ‘are moving to take’ Rice away from West Ham.

England team-mate Kieran Trippier recently said that Rice is better than current Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey.

When asked who is better player out of the pair, Trippier told FIVE on their YouTube channel: “Declan… Declan’s unbelievable.

“I don’t know if you watched the game the other day when we [Newcastle] played West Ham, just his intelligence, the way he breaks up play, how he travels with it, powerful, unbelievable.

“Probably one of the best in the world in what he does.”

READ MORE: West Ham and David Moyes should stay in this marriage of convenience for now

The article Arsenal offer ‘truly crazy contract’ to top summer target as Arteta vows to do ‘whatever it takes’ appeared first on Football365.com.