West Ham star and Arsenal target Declan Rice appeared to play up to rumours linking him with a summer move to Bayern Munich before his club's most recent training session.
The 24-year-old will be the subject of an intense transfer chase during the upcoming window, with Bayern, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea among the clubs reportedly interested in signing him.
Arsenal have set Rice as their priority target for midfield, according to the Daily Mail's Sami Mokbel, with various reports claiming that manager Mikel Arteta is planning a rebuild in the centre of the pitch this summer.
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Granit Xhaka is wanted by Bayer Leverkusen, and told the Evening Standard last week that he will announce a decision on his future before Sunday's final Premier League game of the season against Wolves.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror claim that Thomas Partey is wanted by two unnamed Serie A clubs - and their departures would necessitate the need for several midfield additions this summer.
But according to Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg, Bayern have joined the race to sign Rice.
They have been linked with several English-based players after the appointment of former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel.
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Plettenberg tweeted: "Internally it is said that the poker has begun now! Tuchel and the bosses want him as reported and he's one of the targets who's top on the list.
"Been told that Bayern could pay the price package demanded! Important: It's not advanced yet and it's still unclear what Rice is preferring."
Rice 'responds' to Bayern rumours
As he walked on to the training pitch for West Ham's latest session, Rice reserved some words for the club's cameras, which were filming the players for their TikTok account before the session began.
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After giving his morning greeting, the midfielder switched into German before repeating: "Guten morgen," seemingly a clear nod to the Bayern links.
Whether the 24-year-old moves to Germany remains to be seen. But he would follow in the footsteps of a number of English players to make the move to the Bundesliga in recent years - although most of those have been academy prospects.
But Bayern are also keen on recruiting a striker, and 90min claim that Frankfurt and France star Randal Kolo Muani is of interest to Tuchel's side.
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Meanwhile, Plettenberg has reported (via Bild) that the German side, who need results to go to their way to win the Bundesliga title this weekend, have made a surprising enquiry to sign Manchester City's Julian Alvarez.
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/West HamTopics: Premier League, Declan Rice, Arsenal, West Ham United, Bayern Munich, Transfers