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Arsenal hold an inside advantage in the fight to lure Declan Rice to the Emirates Stadium this summer.
The Gunners have tracked the West Ham midfielder for some time and are expected to launch an offensive during the next transfer window.
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Chelsea and Manchester United hold an interest in the England international but Arsenal are in pole position.
The Premier League leaders hold a possible trump card in the battle to land Rice in former midfielder Jack Wilshere.
Rice and Wilshere became close pals during their time together at the London Stadium and have remained in regular contact.
A video went viral back in 2020 of Wilshere hiding in a washing machine to scare his teammate.
The Daily Mail points out the Wilshere-factor could play a huge role in Rice’s next destination with the 23-year-old set to move on this summer.
Arsenal’s almost-certain qualification for next season’s Champions League would hold an advantage over free-spending Chelsea who look increasingly likely to miss out on European competition next season.
Should Wilshere succeed in helping Rice make the move across London, his standing as a fan favourite at the club will increase tenfold.
@JackWilshere
Wilshere is currently Arsenal’s under-18s coach after calling time on his injury-plagued career last July.
Meanwhile, Arsenal continued their march to a first Premier League title in 19 years with a 4-0 win over Everton on Wednesday night.
Goals from Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and a double from Gabriel Martinelli sent Mikel Arteta’s side five-points clear of closest challengers Manchester City.
The Gunners appear to have come through their February blip when they picked up just one point from nine available against Everton, Brentford and Manchester City.
Since the defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side, Arsenal have won three games on the spin and face the prospect of a favourable set of fixtures.
Arsenal face Bournemouth on Saturday followed by a trip to Fulham before Crystal Palace and Leeds travel to north London.
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