Chelsea Told to Rival Arsenal for England Midfielder Declan Rice

• Arsenal and Chelsea could yet clash in another transfer battle after Mudryk's deal
• Arsenal have made England midfielder Declan Rice their summer priority target
• A former Chelsea player has told the club to move for the West Ham star to solve their midfield problems

The fans of the two London clubs are still spitting in each other's faces after Chelsea hijacked former Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk from the grasp of their rivals Arsenal, despite courting the player for months.

The Gunners moved on quickly from the scene and have signed Belgian forward Leandro Trossard from Brighton, for much less than they would have paid for Mudryk.

A transfer battle could now be set to happen again between the two rivals after it emerged that West Ham midfielder is favouring a move to Arsenal despite Chelsea also having an interest in him, as reported by Guardian.

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Poyet tells Chelsea to rival Arsenal

Declan Rice was a former Chelsea academy player until he was released at the age of 14, as revealed by talkSPORT. He has excelled at West Ham and already is attracting interest including a return to Stamford Bridge.

Former Chelsea player Gus Poyet while speaking in an interview quoted by Metro UK, on recurrent injuries to Ngolo Kante, advised his former club to sign the English midfielder immediately, with Arsenal planning for the summer.

‘I think Chelsea have been waiting to see what the situation is regarding the injury with [N’Golo] Kante, and because I don’t think they can see an end, I would buy Rice now. I would even say yesterday, they should have gone and got him,' he said.

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‘I think it is important as well for the British side, you know the English side, as well in the midfield that you have that leader and for many years you can have such a good player,’ he added.

As reported by Sports Mole, West Ham want an offer in excess of £100m to release their prized asset whose contract expires in June 2024.

Petit advises Chelsea to sign Rice

It was not the first time a former Chelsea player spoke to the club about the England midfielder. As Sports Brief earlier reported, Emmanuel Petit advised Chelsea to sign Declan Rice after his performance at the World Cup.

The 24 year old was at the centre of everything England did in Qatar before their quarter-final elimination to finalists France, putting in a commanding display for Gareth Southgate.

Petit was also a former Arsenal player, having been one of the players who made a direct switch across the two clubs.