Ex England boss Stuart Pearce has waded in on the debate over who West Ham star Declan Rice should choose between Arsenal and Man City.
There has been a series of reported developments in the tussle between Arsenal and Manchester City for West Ham captain Declan Rice over the last week.
Transfer reporters David Ornstein and Gianluca Di Marzio broke the news that Man City will imminently launch a bid to rival the Gunners for West Ham’s £100m man.
Ilkay Gundogan’s departure to Barcelona on a free transfer allegedly sparked Pep Guardiola into action.
Then Sky Sports made a massive claim on Rice’s future, reporting that Man City had made a major breakthrough in the battle with Arsenal for Rice and were confident of a deal after West Ham talks.
Reporter Michael Bridge even stated on Sky Sports News at 12.04pm on Friday that he had been told the Rice deal is ‘approaching the end game’ in Manchester City’s favour.
There was yet another twist from a source very close to West Ham majority stakeholder David Sullivan over the weekend, though.
It was claimed that Rice is determined to join Arsenal despite genuine interest from Man City.
The world and its wife has been having its say on where Rice should go when he leaves West Ham.
Now ex England boss Stuart Pearce has waded in on the debate over who West Ham star Rice should choose between Arsenal and Man City.
Speaking on Sky Sports, former West Ham assistant boss and ex Man City star Pearce – who managed England for three months in 2012 – says he hopes Rice makes ‘the right decision for him’.
But he believes Man City would be incredibly hard for the Hammers talisman to turn down.
“I hope he makes the right decision,” Pearce said.
“The one thing about Declan you know, he’s turned down big money over time at West Ham. They’ve offered him big money to sign longer contracts and he hasn’t done that – he’s done it for the right reasons, for footballing reasons you know.
“His family have got their heads screwed on so he’ll make the right decision for him.
“One thing he has done, he’s conducted himself in such a brilliant manner over this past couple of years. He’s driven the team from the front, he’s captained the team when Mark Noble’s not been there and he’s been absolutely incredible.
“So whatever decision he makes I hope it’s the right one for him (but) I think if Manchester City come knocking it’s a difficult one to turn down, I really do. And I think that statement of intent, if it is Manchester City, to the rest of the league will almost blow a few of them away straight away before we even start.”
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