David Seaman does not believe Arsenal will stump up the money want for , with the Hammers asking for at least £100m for the midfielder.
Rice is one of Arsenal’s top targets in the next transfer window, but he will be an extraordinarily expensive acquisition, with
The Gunners have never before spent that kind of cash on a player, with their record signing being the eye-wateringly wasteful £72m they forked out for Nicolas Pepe.
While he knows his former club would love to sign Rice this summer, Seaman does not think they will smash their own transfer record for the star.
‘Would they spend that much money on just one player? I don’t think they would,’ the goalkeeping great said on .
The Gunners legend defended Rice from some criticism over his enormous price tag, pointing out that the player has no say in such wild numbers, it is just his club trying to do the best for themselves.
‘It’s the same with , I don’t put that on the player, that’s not the player deciding that, that’s the clubs trying to get as much as possible,’ he said.
‘It’s always the English players that seem to go for so much more, but that’s the clubs doing their business, trying to do as much as they can for their best player at the club, he is their best player.
‘If they are going to get that sort of money, then it softens the blow a little bit.’
Liverpool are also interested in Rice, but they too are unlikely to reach the heights of £120m for the 24-year-old. It looks likely to be a long summer of negotiations and uncertainty over his future.
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