Declan Rice open to joining Bayern Munich after phone call with Thomas Tuchel

Bayern Munich are ramping up their charm offensive for Declan Rice with manager Thomas Tuchel reaching out to the West Ham midfielder, according to reports in Germany.

The England international is expected to leave east London this summer with a host of Premier League clubs queueing up to sign him.

Arsenal have identified Rice as the ideal man to bolster their midfield and are believed to be favourites for his signature, while Manchester United, Chelsea and City also hold long-standing interest.

But Bayern are preparing to make a rival play and Sky Sport Germany claim Tuchel has personally spoken to Rice in an effort to convince him to move to the Bundesliga.

While the 24-year-old’s preference is to remain in the Premier League, he is said to be ‘open’ to a move to Bavaria and has welcomed the interest from Bayern.

Rice is top of Bayern’s summer transfer wish list with the club keen to land a marquee signing this summer as they look to challenge for the Champions League, while they rather stumbled over the line in defence of their Bundesliga crown.

The German champions are conscious of the huge amount of competition for Rice’s signature and believe Arsenal are further along in their pursuit.

But that has not deterred Bayern and Tuchel’s personal touch went down well with Rice, with the conversation described as a ‘good talk’.

The Bayern boss has seen Rice up close on several occasions during his time in charge of Chelsea and after one particularly impressive performance at Stamford Bridge last season he made a beeline for the midfielder after the final whistle to applaud his display.

Bayern will look to intensify their efforts in the coming days after receiving encouragement from Rice, though they may ultimately be priced out of a move.

The Bavarians cannot compete with the mammoth spending of the Premier League and would ideally like to land Rice for less than €100million (£86m).

West Ham are thought to want a British-record fee in excess of the £100m Manchester City spent on Jack Grealish, though the prospect of selling Rice abroad – rather than to a London rival – might tempt them into accepting a lower offer from a foreign club.

Bayern will press ahead with a move for Rice despite the departures of key personnel over the weekend in the form of chief executive Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.

MORE : Rio Ferdinand says Arsenal target Declan Rice could ‘go to another level’ under Mikel Arteta

MORE : Declan Rice to make it clear he has a preference between Arsenal and Manchester United transfer

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