Bayern Munich will up their efforts to sign Declan Rice from West Ham United this summer, according to Sky Germany.
The 24-year-old reportedly spoke on the phone with Bayern head coach Thomas Tuchel. He is trying to convince him to sign for the Bundesliga champions.
Bayern are in the market for a holding midfielder to partner Joshua Kimmich in midfield and Rice is their top target to fill the position.
Tuchel is pushing for the deal as he knows the player well from his time in the Premier League. He targeted the England international while with Chelsea.
In Bavaria, he has the same problem he had at Chelsea – an imbalanced midfield.
Bayern’s first-choice midfield duo, Leon Goretzka and Kimmich, are not defensive midfielders.
Kimmich is the closest to that profile but has a penchant for pushing far up the pitch, leaving holes he should be covering.
To be fair to the German international, he is superb going forward. The club plans to sign a sitting midfielder to allow Kimmich to roam.
Their primary target for the role is Rice, but it won’t be easy as the player has interest from Arsenal.
The Gunners are trying to reinforce their squad for Champions League football next season. They want Rice to be their midfield addition as they prepare for Granit Xhaka’s exit.
Bayern are willing to pay a high fee than Arsenal for Rice but are not keen on going as high as €100 million.
The club’s new transfer team, comprising Tuchel, Uli Hoeness, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Jan-Christian Dreesen and Dr Michael Diederich, is kicking into action.
Bayern dismissed CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic after their 11th Bundesliga win this weekend. The club has a new transfer committee for the summer transfer window.
Apart from handling transfers, this committee will likely decide who to hire as the sporting director. Dreesen has already replaced Kahn as CEO.
