Arsenal confident of winning transfer race to sign Declan Rice, Newcastle want Chelsea trio – Paper Round

Declan Rice is Arsenal’s top priority this summer with the West Ham midfielder set to ignite a bidding war at the end of the season, The Times report. Chelsea have long been linked with Rice, who played for the Blues’ academy before joining the Hammers’ youth setup, while Manchester United are also said to be interested in the England international. Arsenal, however, are confident of signing the player, and with Rice’s contract expiring in 2024, West Ham could be willing to sell him this summer – with £70-80m the reported fee.

Paper Round’s view: Who fed this to The Times? Rice’s agent? Quite possibly, and you can’t help but think it’s a play to get Chelsea to fork out more than £80m on a (former) player they have been linked with for years. Your move, Todd.

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Newcastle are interested in signing Chelsea trio Conor Gallagher, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Hakim Ziyech, the Telegraph reports. Chelsea head coach Graham Potter is said to be willing to let Ziyech leave this month, but is against Gallagher and Loftus-Cheek departing in the January transfer window. Newcastle are also said to be looking at Scott McTominay and Ruben Neves in a bid to bolster their midfield options.

Paper Round’s view: Something has to give at Chelsea, more specifically someone, and while there are fears for their academy players (see below), the arrival of Mykhailo Mudryk surely means a winger is on their way out – most likely Ziyech. It is, however, no shock to read Potter is unwilling to sell a midfielder, especially with their current injury crisis. Newcastle may have to look elsewhere in that department.

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Chelsea’s academy players are growing fearful of their prospects at the club amid the transfer spree under Todd Boehly’s watch, the Telegraph reports. With Mykhailo Mudryk the 14th signing of the Boehly-led era, the agents and parents of some of Chelsea’s young hopefuls are worried that their path to the first team is becoming increasingly problematic. As a result, German clubs are said to be looking at signing the best of Chelsea’s home-grown players.

Paper Round’s view: This is hardly a surprise, but you have to feel for Chelsea’s academy players, particularly as they find themselves at a club that produced Mason Mount and Reece James (and Rice) in recent years. Nevertheless, there is hope, with Graham Potter giving some youngsters a run-out recently, although that is arguably down to injuries, so let’s see what happens when he has a fully-fit squad to play with.

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Jurgen Klopp has promised a summer shake-up but insists his departure from Liverpool will not be one of them. The Daily Mail are among the papers picking up on Klopp’s quotes ahead of the FA Cup replay against Wolves, with the Liverpool boss vowing “I will not go” unless he is pushed. On the rebuild, he added: “The only thing I want is to fix this situation, that's all. And with all the things, some of them, it was clear we'd have problems and it would be another important period of change really but with all the injuries, it's much more than you could have expected.”

Paper Round’s view: Klopp is entering uncharted territory given the length of his stay at Liverpool, but as we have seen the (current, for now) owners have already given him time after a poor season. The last time, they bounced back and won two out of four trophies in a quadruple pursuit that lasted until the penultimate game of their season. He’s got credit in the bank, he’ll also hope there’s some money to spend too on reinforcements this summer.