Arsenal or Man City? Declan Rice quote hints at transfer destination

Tom Weber

• Updated: 22 Jun 2023 15:45 BST
• 3 min read

Has Declan Rice hinted at his next destination by revealing his admiration for a Manchester City legend?

The West Ham captain has been the subject of intense interest from Arsenal for months and looked for a time all but set to join the Gunners, but Manchester City have recently begun to meddle in the affair.

This has blown the race to sign the 24-year-old wide open. Indeed, as we have reported, City are now readying a bid for Rice. Arsenal, meanwhile, have previously been knocked back by West Ham as their offer fell some way short of the Hammers' asking price, but Mikel Arteta and company remain confident of being able to strike a deal eventually.

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Manchester City fans will, however, be quite bullish about their club's ability to get a deal done - and not just because of their limitless fount of money. In a recent YouTube video, Rice revealed that a Manchester City legend is one of his footballing idols.

Rice meets Toure

In a Kit Collector video for GOAL, Rice showed off the strips he had managed to snag so far in his career. Shirts from the likes of Steven Gerrard, Eden Hazard and Cristiano Ronaldo took pride of place among his vast collection.

He was eventually joined by former City midfielder Yaya Toure and was visibly surprised. "One of the idols," Rice exclaimed. "That is someone I've based the game on massively."

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"As you can see," he continued, "I don't get starstruck very often. This is a legend. I can't believe I've got Yaya Toure in my house. It doesn't make any sense!"

The Ivorian, who also starred for Barcelona during his illustrious career, then gave Rice two Manchester City kits to add to his collection - just a gift or an elaborate ploy to get the England star to sign for his former club?