From the start, I was quite sure that Manchester City were not serious about signing Declan Rice. yep, referring to several news sources that I have read in recent weeks. rumor has it, even though City are interested in signing the West Ham midfielder. but strangely, City did not promise Rice to become a regular player. considering, West Ham set a price for his midfielder with a price tag of £ 100 million. quite strange for me, because City did not promise a place in the main squad. that's why, from the start I assumed that City were not too serious about signing Declan Rice. after all, City had signed Mateo Kovacic before from Chelsea.
It seems, Pep has other plans. in fact, it could have been if Pep had actually been aiming for another option that he wanted instead of Declan Rice. so, City's withdrawal in the hunt for the West Ham midfielder will not be a serious problem for them, even if they don't bring him to the Etihad Stadium.
On the other hand, Arsenal are increasingly insistent on bringing Rice to the Emirates Stadium. I read a tweet from Romano, that the talks are ongoing and even very close. most likely, if West Ham and Arsenal will have a deal for Rice.
From Rice's perspective, he actually wants to move in this transfer window in order to play for a club in the Champions League. West Ham's success in winning the Europa Conference League is one of the reasons why Rice's value has skyrocketed at the moment. On the other hand, West Ham themselves want Rice to stay and remain for the upcoming season if there are no suitable offers for him.
If Rice wants to leave, it would be better for him to join Manchester City compared to Arsenal, as this would bring him one step closer to winning the Champions League compared to Arsenal. However, recent media reports stating that Manchester City has abandoned their intentions, as you mentioned, are due to the exorbitant and unreasonable price set by West Ham, causing Pep and the City management to retract their interest. Consequently, if Arsenal is unable to secure his transfer to West London, Rice will continue to play for West Ham in the upcoming season, competing in the Europa League rather than the Champions League.