'I prefer Rice over Partey' - Udeze urges Arsenal to go all out to sign West Ham captain 

Former Super Eagles defender Ifeanyi Udeze believes a deal for West Ham United captain Declan Rice is a better bargain for Premier League deputy champions Arsenal than having Ghana international Thomas Partey.

Partey has been linked with clubs in Saudi Arabia albeit emerging reports in the English media indicate that the former Atletico Madrid star prefers a move to Serie A side Juventus. 

Juventus showed interest in the midfielder two seasons ago but were not able to conduct a deal due to financial issues but manager Mikel Arteta is said to be considering offloading the African. 

Speaking on Brila FM Friday morning on his thoughts on Arsenal transfer news thus far, Udeze who was a former player at West Brom, said it will not be bad business if Partey left the north London side. 

 "I prefer (Declan) Rice over Thomas Partey," the onetime Nigeria left back noted. 

"Partey may have a good distribution but he's slow in his move but Rice is faster. He's progressive with the ball. He joins the attack. 

On whether the England international is worth the transfer fee demanded by West Ham or not, Udeze said:

"The £100m is high but Rice is English, homegrown and will add value to the Arsenal side. 

"Partey caused a few mistake that cost Arsenal especially against West Ham. Arsenal is not the first team to start this 'high fee', and won't be the last," the Brila FM analyst added. 

"When Chelsea bought Cucurella, was he worth more than £60m? The answer is no. But that's the current value. Harry Kane is 30 years but he's valued at 100m.

"This past season, even if Partey's stats may be slightly better than Rice's individually but that has something to do with the overall team play," Udeze concluded. 

Arsenal's £90m bid for Rice was rejected by the Hammers but the Londoners are expected to make another bid that will be close to the midfielder's valuation. 

Izuchukwu Michael

Photo Credit: arsenal.com

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