Second deal between Arsenal and West Ham coming, with common ground found over unlikely goal machine

Mikel Arteta is keen to offload an Arsenal star David Moyes has plans for, with West Ham and the Gunners potentially set to do business for a second time, per a report.

The two clubs are poised to preside over a colossal transfer involving Declan Rice. West Ham have accepted Arsenal’s £105m (£100m plus £5m in add-ons) bid that will make the 24-year-old the most expensive British player of all time.

Combined with major moves for Jurrien Timber, Romeo Lavia and Kai Havertz, Arsenal’s summer spend could smash the £250m mark.

Unsurprisingly, an exit or two are now on the cards, with Granit Xhaka to finally be given the greenlight to join Bayer Leverkusen. Xhaka will return to Germany in a £13m deal that had been delayed by Arsenal until a direct replacement arrived.

Elsewhere, the i paper bring news of Arsenal left-back, Nuno Tavares, potentially trading places with Rice.

The Portuguese was an £8m signing from Benfica back in 2021, though struggled to cope defensively upon moving to the Premier League.

A loan spell with Marseille was sanctioned for the 2022/23 campaign and Tavares’ attacking instincts were allowed to thrive.

Indeed, when deployed primarily as a left wing-back, Tavares remarkably notched six goals in 31 Ligue 1 matches for Marseille.

Very few players provide that type of goals return from the backline. Tavares’ exploits prompted then-Marseille boss, Igor Tudor, to claim Tavares was “good enough to play for Barcelona”.

However, the i newspaper state Arsenal have earmarked Tavares as a player they want to cash in on to help offset their mammoth spending spree.

Handily enough, West Ham are understood to be sizing Tavares up, with manager David Moyes viewing the 23-year-old as stiff competition for the ageing Aaron Cresswell.

Just £8m will be enough to seal a deal, though every little helps and his wages would also be removed from the accounts.

While not publicly announced, the Athletic reported in May that West Ham had activated the one-year option in Cresswell’s contract.

As such, the 33-year-old is tied down until 2024, though may soon be made to battle for his starting berth if Tavares signs.