Arsenal target Declan Rice wants to stay in London, CBS reporter Ben Jacobs has informed GiveMeSport.

As a result, Jacobs believes the Gunners and Chelsea may sense an opportunity to sign the West Ham midfielder this summer and thinks the former have the advantage at this moment in time.

GiveMeSport Transfer Update

Arsenal transfer news - Declan Rice

Journalist Dean Jones recently told GMS that Arsenal are willing to break their transfer record to land Rice in the next window.

However, according to Jones, West Ham are hoping to get £110m for their captain, a fee he cannot see the north London club paying.

Nicolas Pepe is currently their most expensive signing ever, joining them in a £72m deal from Lille back in 2019, as reported by BBC Sport.

It will now be interesting to see just how much Arsenal are willing to offer West Ham for Rice, with The Times claiming that he is their top target for the summer.

What has Ben Jacobs said about Declan Rice and Arsenal?

Amid Arsenal and Mikel Arteta's interest in Rice, Jacobs has told GMS that the 24-year-old likes the idea of staying in London.

"Arsenal are still perhaps slightly ahead of Chelsea, simply because of their league position and how advanced their project is comparative to Chelsea," the journalist said.

"Rice, as I'm told, would quite like to stay in London, so Chelsea and Arsenal may sense an opportunity there compared to say Manchester United or even Newcastle United."

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Where will Declan Rice be playing his football next season?

Everything is pointing towards Rice representing a London club in the 2023/24 campaign; it is just not clear which one yet.

The Englishman is still obviously under contract, so there is no guarantee that he will actually depart West Ham in the next transfer window.

If the Hammers do grant him permission to leave, though, then the Emirates and Stamford Bridge appear to be the two most likely destinations.

Arsenal and Chelsea's names are the ones that keep coming up, with The Athletic's David Ornstein suggesting that it could end up being a head-to-head battle between the two for the England international.

The Blues arguably need him more due to N'Golo Kante's injury problems and contract situation, but their London rivals are really pushing for his signature and should be able to offer something that they will probably not be able to: Champions League football.

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