After missing out on Declan Rice to Arsenal, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has identified the player Manchester City is now eyeing.

Arsenal have made the first moves toward acquiring Rice by making proposals of £80 million and £90 million to West Ham. West Ham, however, rejected both offers because they want £100 million for their captain.

As West Ham and Arsenal struggled to come to terms, City jumped in with a counteroffer. It came in at £90 million, but City thought it was better than Arsenal’s greatest offer because more of the cash would have been given up front.

But West Ham were left ‘unimpressed’ by City’s bid, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, as they had already told Pep Guardiola’s side they wanted £100m.

Arsenal are now poised to win the race for the England midfielder after launching a third, improved offer worth £100m plus £5m in add-ons. City have decided they will not match this fee, which means it may not be long before Rice ends up at the Emirates.

Following Ilkay Gundogan’s free transfer to Barcelona, City are in need of a new midfielder and this means they must now get to work on signing an alternative to Rice.

Writing on Twitter, Romano has provided a big update on City’s plans. He reveals they have ‘entered the race’ for Celta Vigo’s midfield ace Gabri Veiga.

The 21-year-old La Liga star is ‘one of the options being considered’ now that a deal for Rice is no longer viable.

Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea all converge on same star

Romano adds that Liverpool and Chelsea both ‘remain interested’ in Veiga following his exceptional campaign. He bagged 11 goals in 36 games to help Celta Vigo finish 13th in the Spanish top flight.

City know exactly how much Veiga will cost, and it isn’t an astronomical fee either. His release clause stands at €40m (£34.6m), which means he could be signed for way less than Rice.

Of course, Veiga is not on Rice’s level yet, while he is also lacking Premier League experience. But he has huge potential and the £34.6m fee could therefore end up being an absolute steal for City.

On June 22, reports in Spain revealed how Liverpool were ready to activate Veiga’s release clause. They had also drawn up an £83,000-a-week contract for him.

However, Jurgen Klopp may now have to watch on as the Spain U21 starlet heads to fierce rivals City instead.