Journalist Charles Watts has suggested that revenue from the Champions League and a "huge" overseas TV deal may help fund an Arsenal transfer move for Declan Rice.

What’s the word?

It's well-known that the Gunners are hoping to sign the West Ham United midfielder from their Premier League rivals next summer and the player looks to be up for a move.

However, that doesn't mean he will come cheap. Indeed, David Moyes recently said any transfer will not just smash the British record but "blow it out of the water" (via BBC).

On top of that, journalist Jim White has suggested that Rice will cost £120m plus add-ons if the Gunners want to bring him in next summer. With that in mind, a deal may be complicated.

However, Watts has insisted that the move could be possible as Arsenal will get a big boost financially if they qualify for the Champions League next season, while he also mentioned.

While speaking on YouTube, he explained: "You kind of look at the finances that could be involved for Arsenal and the money is clearly there. We saw what they were willing to spend in January, there's plenty of money in the transfer kitty if, touch wood, Arsenal go on and qualify for the Champions League. "Whatever happens between now at the end of the season in terms of the title race, if they go and qualify for the Champions League - which it looks pretty much nailed-on that they are going to - then those finances that they've got at the moment are going to be boosted even more come the summer. He continued: "That will certainly help when it comes to potentially spending big for someone like a Declan Rice. "And there's another TV deal, I think, as well. Clubs know full well how much money they're going to be getting from the overseas TV deal, which is huge. So there's going to be more money coming in from that. "We've seen recently that the Kroenkes are willing to find money to back Mikel Arteta in the transfer market."

Money in the bank

Owner Stan Kroenke was certainly prepared to financially back Arteta in his title push as the club put in a huge £70m bid for Moises Caicedo that was ultimately rejected by Brighton. And seeing as only £12m was then spent on Jorginho, it's safe to assume the club will have plenty of money to go back in for another midfielder in the summer. And all this potential spending would have been done without revenue from the Champions League as the Gunners have not played in that competition since the 2016/17 season. On top of that, this overseas TV deal could bring in more money and so it feels as though Arsenal may well be able to splash over £100m in the summer if they want to make Rice one of their own.