The excitement among the Arsenal fans is immense these days. After officially signing Kai Havertz from Chelsea, the Gunners have reportedly agreed a fee for West Ham United captain Declan Rice this week.

According to the reports from Fabrizio Romano, Manchester City have refused to match the fee of £105m for the signature of the English midfielder, making Arsenal the frontrunner for the deal. After this swoop of £170m from the London clubs, let's see how Mikel Arteta integrates them into his lineup.

4-3-3 with Kai Havertz and Declan Rice in midfield

“Kai is a player of top quality. He has great versatility and intelligence,” Arteta told Arsenal.com after the official transfer. “He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play. We welcome Kai and his family to Arsenal Football Club, and we are all excited to start working with him when we start pre-season training soon.”

After adding Havertz from Chelsea, it was said that Arteta would use the Germany International in the striker's position. The left-footed attacker played that role in the 2021 Champions League final against Manchester City and scored the winning goal. Although this is an option for Arteta, it isn't necessarily his plan in the long term. 

Arsenal lineup

Arteta will use Havertz in the advanced midfield role. It will allow the Germany International to compete with Martin Odegaard, Fabio Viera, and Emile Smith Rowe in the attacking positions. Hence, we can see the former Manchester City lineup in a 4-3-3 formation with both Rice and Havertz.

As Granit Xhaka is set to join Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal willing to hear offers for Thomas Partey, Rice is likely to play in the single pivot. The English midfielder will play as the deepest midfielder, as he will give the freedom to Havertz and Odegaard in the advanced areas. 

The big question mark will be the role change for Rice from West Ham to Arsenal. The English midfielder had to do most of the work at the London Stadium without the ball. The Hammers usually are a side on the back foot and prefer to hit teams on the counter. At Arsenal, he is going to play in a possession-based module. It remains to be seen if Rice has the passing skills to play this role and become an upgrade on Partey and Xhaka.