Man City chief breaks silence on pulling out of deal to sign Declan Rice

Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has broken his silence on missing out on signing Declan Rice after pulling out of the deal to sign the West Ham United star.

Man City made a play to snap up Rice this summer as they tabled an offer worth up to £90 million.

But their proposal was rejected by the Hammers, who have since succumbed to Arsenal's pursuit.

The Gunners have reached an agreement in principle to sign the England international, having launched a massive offer worth up to £105 million.

Declan Rice with the Europa Conference League trophy. Image: PA

It's not the first time the Premier League champions have backed out of a big-money transfer, with the club refusing to meet the demands for players like Harry Maguire and Marc Cucurella in recent years.

Soriano has shared his thoughts on pulling out of the race to sign Rice, stating they will stick to their beliefs when negotiations transfer fees.

Speaking at the announcement of a new sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency behemoths OKX, he said: "If you look at what we did at the start of this project, there was a need for a lot of changes and investment - but not anymore. If you look at what we have done in the last five years, our level of investment in new players is well thought out.

"We are not the top net-spenders of last year or the last three or five years," he continued. "We have a platform where we know what to do and we can do it with time and intelligence. When we don't like a deal, we walk away and we don't panic."

Man City will likely remain in the market for a midfielder following the departure of Ilkay Gundogan.

The Blues, meanwhile, enjoyed a sensational campaign last season, winning a famous treble.

And Soriano continued by appearing to take a swipe at their rivals, adding: "How many coaches did we have in the last 10 years? Two - Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola. How many football directors? One - Txiki Begiristian.

"Part of the success is to be consistent and resilient and not panicking when we lose.

"I've seen at City when going to breakfast the morning after the games we have lost and it’s like a funeral and people are really p**sed off.

"That's when you have to show resilience but also intelligence to think 'today is not the day to make decisions'. This is part of the reason why we have been successful in the last decade."

Topics: Manchester City, Declan Rice, Football

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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