Pep Guardiola says all Premier League sides would sign Declan Rice if they could as he revealed Manchester City's failed pursuit of the Arsenal ace.

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• Man City wanted to sign West Ham's Rice
• Joined Arsenal for £105m last summer
• Guardiola praises England midfielder

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Cityzens bid £90 million ($114.7m) for the midfielder but Arsenal claimed his signature as their £105m ($137m) offer was accepted by West Ham last summer. Now, Guardiola has spoken about how they were unable to recruit the England international, who has been a revelation for the Gunners this season, ahead of their huge clash with Mikel Arteta's men on Easter Sunday.

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  WHAT PEP GUARDIOLA SAID

  He told reporters: “Sometimes here we have many players we wanted and they didn’t decide to join us. He's [Rice] not the first one who we wanted who didn't join us. We have a long list. Basically, they don't want to come or the price or whatever, so it could not happen. He made his decision, a good one, and good luck. All the teams in the Premier League would have signed Declan Rice. He's an international captain for the national team of England and a young player playing a lot of games regularly. That's why Arsenal pushed the way they pushed."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Arsenal are the division's form side at present and are top of the Premier League but defeat at the Etihad this weekend would be a huge blow to their title hopes. However, a point or a victory would boost their chances of topping the table come the end of the campaign. And Rice will no doubt play a big part in that bid for silverware.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  After this contest between league leaders Arsenal and third-placed City, who are one point behind second-placed Liverpool and the Gunners, Arteta's side host Luton Town on April 3 whereas Guardiola's men entertain Aston Villa on the same date.

Tags: Futebol
Category: News