"What do they need him for?"
It's a common refrain whenever Manchester City look to add anyone to their richly gifted, trophy-hoarding squad.
In the case of Declan Rice, the West Ham and England midfielder who was briefly gripped in a transfer tug-of-war between City and Premier League rivals Arsenal, that question was certainly part of the conversation.
For Arsenal, the need is obvious. The strength in depth of Mikel Arteta's squad came under decisive stress during the closing weeks of the season as City overhauled the Gunners in the Premier League title race.
Granit Xhaka is expected to join Bayer Leverkusen, while Thomas Partey been linked with a mega-money switch to the Saudi Pro League. It makes the need for Rice, a player Arsenal have reportedly courted for months, seem even more pressing and explains their bolstered latest approach of £100 million plus £5m in add-ons ($126m + $6.3m), as per the Athletic's David Ornstein.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal have tonight submitted a massive offer to West Ham for England midfielder Declan Rice. Proposal is for £100m + £5m in add-ons - would be a record for a British player as #AFC try to agree deal with #WHUFC for top target @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/ZuFqkCbQcE
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) June 27, 2023
MORE: Declan Rice transfer news updates, reports and rumours
City, on the other hand, are led by Pep Guardiola. The one-time midfield maestro who, as Ilkay Gundogan revealed to no great surprise this week, "once told me, 'I wish I could play with 11 midfielders'".
Does he really need another? Well, yes. And Gundogan is a pretty good place to start.
Why did Man City want to sign Declan Rice?
Gundogan's contribution of the latest quote to the canon on Guardiola's midfielders fetish came within an emotional piece for the Players Tribune where he bade an extended farewell to City.
The Germany playmaker was Guardiola's first signing at the Etihad Stadium and he has been integral to the five Premier League titles and 12 major honours won since.
He signed off in style, taking the captain's armband from the departed Fernandinho to lead City to the treble, hitting a particularly purple patch of form down the stretch and scoring both goals to down Manchester United in the FA Cup final. His departure to Barcelona on a free transfer leaves a huge hole.
On the face of it, Rice did not feel like an obvious replacement. Take Gundogan's knack for goals: he was City's top scorer in the Premier League in 2020/21, the first of three consecutive seasons in which he hit double figures. Rice's five goals in each of the past two campaigns in all competitions are his best hauls.
Of course, the England star has been asked to do a very different job at West Ham, generally playing deeper in midfield with his box-to-box qualities coming to the fore a little more of late. City have Rodri at the base of their midfield, arguably the best player in the world in that position and a Champions League final matchwinner to boot.
Rodri took on the holding role at City from Fernandinho and a repeated theme of the Guardiola era has been the coach taking the opportunity to replace club greats and evolve his team simultaneously.
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Pablo Zabaleta to Kyle Walker, Fernandinho to Rodri, Raheem Sterling to Jack Grealish, Sergio Aguero to Erling Haaland — all fine players who have played in the same positions for Guardiola, but none of those pairs are particularly alike.
With that in mind, along with the fact Mateo Kovacic's arrival from Chelsea was always on the cards, irrespective of what the skipper decided to do, let's consider Rice's merits as the Gundogan replacement.
He certainly has versatility in his favour, a trait Gundogan displayed when dropping deep to build play and pop up in the opposition box — often in the same matches — and one Guardiola prizes.
City's configuration during the second half of their triumphant 2022/23 campaign, lining up roughly in a 3-2-2-3 shape in midfield as John Stones ferreted merrily into midfield, is one that would have had a fair few possible uses for Rice.
He could have tucked in alongside Rodri at the base of the midfield, allowing Stones to play a more conventional defensive role. If that's all a bit too beige for the "Barnsley Beckenbauer" nowadays, Rice's previous experience of tucking in at centre-back would've given the option of switching things around in-game.
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Kevin De Bruyne is set to begin 2023/24 on the sidelines after his hamstring complaint deteriorated during the Champions League final against Inter. That creates an exciting opportunity for Phil Foden to thrive in a central attacking midfield role.
Having Rice's extra dynamism alongside Foden, where Gundogan would previously have played, would have been a boost, as would a reduced dependence on De Bruyne, who has pushed his body to the limit during the past two season run-ins and turns 32 this week. Rice, 24, has played 50 games in each of the past two seasons and seems close to bulletproof physically.
Like Gundogan before him, De Bruyne is one of City's leaders and will be in contention to take the armband next season. Walker is another member of the leadership group in his thirties and was recently linked with Bayern Munich.
City's dressing room is a close-knit unit of big characters. Rice's talismanic showings as West Ham captain, most recently en route to glory in the Europa Conference League, were another significant tick in the box as far as Guardiola is concerned.
If that sounds like a bit of an intangible, much of this blockbuster transfer is a leap of faith. Rice is ranked in the top bracket globally by numerous observers, but he has spent most of his career playing for a West Ham side that is reactive and does not enjoy the lion's share of possession — in essence, the opposite of his potential City experience.
Rice vs. Rodri vs. Gundogan in Premier League 2022/23
| Games played | Games started | Minutes played | Recoveries | Interceptions | Tackles | Passing Accuracy | |
| Rodri | 36 | 34 | 2,920 | 301 | 33 | 66 | 91.27% |
| Ilkay Gundogan | 31 | 27 | 2,357 | 155 | 20 | 30 | 88.25% |
| Declan Rice | 37 | 36 | 3,272 | 334 | 63 | 79 | 88.05% |
However, as the comparison with Rodri and Gundogan above highlights, Rice has plenty in his favour. He takes care of possession and thrives when breaking up play. The tactical differences between West Ham and City mean he was always likely to rank higher than Rodri and Gundogan in this regard, but Guardiola places a great emphasis upon his midfielders being alert to second balls in order to thwart counter-attacks and set more rumbling assaults upon the opposition goal in motion.
Gundogan was a master at this, at times seeming to have a sixth sense over where the ball might land or where an opponent would try and fail to thread a pass. It was fitting that the move for Rodri's Champions League final winner featured Gundogan retaining possession under a looping ball that looked more likely to drop to the opposition defence.
Rice's anticipation, timing and decision-making are his most Gundogan-like qualities and probably those foremost in Guardiola's mind when he left final instructions with director of football Txiki Begiristain and mooched off on holiday to Egypt with his family. Now, the two old Barcelona pals will have to formulate a plan B.
Who will Man City sign instead of Declan Rice?
Guardiola loves a multi-functional player, with Gundogan and Bernardo Silva developing into the archetypes during their time in Manchester. As much as Rice doesn't share multiple common traits with those two, his capacity to perform several tasks was a central part of his appeal.
The transfer fee involved suggests there aren't many players exactly like Rice. Therefore, it is possible City don't move for another midfielder. Kovacic is in the building, Kalvin Phillips seems keen to hang around for a shot at redemption and highly rated young playmaker James McAtee is set to be re-integrated after an increasingly impressive season-long loan at Sheffield United.
When City tried to buy Alexis Sanchez and Jorginho in 2018, Harry Maguire in 2019 and Marc Cucurella in 2022, they walked away from those deals when the financials involved went above what they considered to be fair value. They did likewise in 2021 when Tottenham made it clear they would not be willing to sell Harry Kane, despite a very public attempt from the player to leave and a bid from City of around £127m.
In those respective transfer windows, they did not sign a wide attacker, a defensive midfielder, a centre-back, a left-back or a centre-forward. Signing nobody instead of Rice and letting Guardiola work with the squad he has would repeat a familiar pattern.
In the aftermath of their Rice withdrawal, Fabrizio Romano reported City were in the running for Celta Vigo midfielder Gabri Veiga. They have been linked with the Spain Under-21 international previously and the fact there is a release clause of €40m in play means Veiga certainly fits in with Begiristain's preferred way of operating.
Bidding wars like the one that seemed to be brewing for Rice are generally anathema to how City like to do business. Of the starting line-up in the Champions League final, Ederson, Ruben Dias, Rodri, Grealish and Haaland all arrived at City after release clauses in their contracts were met.
Veiga, at least at this early stage of his career, is an out-and-out attacking midfielder, so would leave City's squad in a different shape than would have been the case in the event of Rice joining.
Most of the rest of City's business this summer, assuming Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol joins his international teammate Kovacic in Manchester, will be dependent upon outgoings. If Silva finally leaves after a couple of close seasons of assessing his options, then a versatile midfielder capable of playing centrally and out wide would appeal.
Considering City were interested in Jude Bellingham and Rice, perhaps the homegrown quota built into Premier League and Champions League squads is part of the considerations. With that in mind, as Mason Mount's purported move from Chelsea to Manchester United hits stumbling blocks, perhaps City could swoop in and snare a player who feels made to measure for Guardiola football.
Ultimately, that would not be a very City way to do business. Much like their late entry into the Rice bidding, which probably tells you all you need to know.
Premier League 2023/24 TV channels, live streams
MORE: Watch every Premier League match in Canada on Fubo
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| Canada | — | |
| Hong Kong | — | Now TV |
| India | Star Sports | Disney+, Hotstar, JioTV |
| Malaysia | Astro SuperSport | Astro Go |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport | Sky Sport Now, Sky Go |
| Singapore | StarHub | StarHub TV+ |
| UK | Sky Sports, TNT Sports | NOW TV, Sky Go, Amazon Prime |
| USA | USA Network, Telemundo, Universo |
Fubo, Peacock |
UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and TNT Sports streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.
USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on Fubo. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.
Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streaming exclusively via Fubo in Canada.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.
India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).
