Arsenal face Mudryk repeat as board ‘determine most they will spend on Rice’

Asked if he can see Arsenal spending £120m, Smith stated: “No I can’t really, I have to say, not £120m. We saw their negotiation tactics with Mudryk when he was linked with Arsenal and they would only go up to a certain price, and after that they were out.

“They left it to Chelsea with Mudryk. If anyone else needed to bid foolish cash for Declan Rice, having spoken to folks on the recruitment aspect, folks on the board at Arsenal who’ve given me an thought of how they work, yeah they have a ceiling they usually will not be held to ransom.

“They’ll have a figure in mind and they’ll go up to that if they do want him but they won’t go any higher.”

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