“I don’t think Manchester City want to Sign Declan Rice” – Ex-England International Makes bizarre Claim

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Former England Women’s forward Eni Aluko has bizarrely claimed that Manchester City aren’t interested in signing Arsenal target Declan Rice.

Aluko was speaking to talkSPORT when she opined that the Gunners were using Mikel Arteta’s prior connection with Pep Guardiola in their bid for Rice. She alluded to her role as a sporting director:

“As a sporting director, I used to do this a lot. So I used to call up a club, big club, and say, right, can you put in a bid in? And that would get my owner to basically put a higher bid in. It’s a bit like an auction, isn’t it?”

Aluko explained why she doesn’t think Manchester City’s interest in Rice is genuine:

“I don’t think Manchester City actually want to sign Declan Rice. I think what’s going on here is Arteta’s picked up the phone to Pep, said, Listen, you know, Arsenal are going to do the sort of increment mental bid approach. If you put a higher bid in, that will push my owner to… I think there’s a bit of that going on here.”

TalkSPORT presenter Laura Woods then asked Aluko whether this was being done to speed up the deal. She responded:

“Not for speed. But to get the deal done, because West Ham obviously want a certain valuation. I think I read £120m.”

Aluko’s claim is a strange one given the fact that Arsenal and Manchester City went to war in the Premier League title race last season. The video has since been deleted by the radio station’s Twitter account but has been met with backlash from fans.

City have reportedly had a £90 million bid for the West Ham United captain rejected, per the aforementioned source. The Hammers are reportedly holding out for £100 million for the English international who has a year left on his contract.

Arteta’s side have already had two bids for Rice rejected with their latest one standing at £75 million plus £15 million in add-ons. Meanwhile, Manchester City offered £80 million including £10 million in add-ons. The race looks set to continue with Arsenal anticipated to make a fresh bid.

Both are yet to meet West Ham’s demands for the English midfielder who is eyeing a move to a UEFA Champions League club this summer. Rice captained the Hammers to Europa Conference League glory last season, scoring five goals and providing four assists in 50 games across competitions.

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