Arsenal’s third bid of £105m will make Declan Rice the most expensive British transfer ever; Man City ended interest after having £90m bid rejected by West Ham; Rice led Irons to Europa Conference League title last season
Arsenal have agreed a £105m deal to sign West Ham captain Declan Rice this summer – but the two clubs are still discussing how the fee will be paid in installments.
The structure of the payments are yet to be finalised, but Rice is now free to discuss personal terms and look at having his medical.
The transfer breaks down as an £100m initial fee plus £5m in performance related add-ons.
Arsenal have already had two club-record bids rejected by the Irons – a £90m bid comprising a £75m fee and £15m in add-ons and an opening offer thought to be worth £80m plus add-ons.
The offer smashes Arsenal’s transfer record – the £72m they paid Lille for Nicolas Pepe in 2019.
Rice has spent his entire professional career with West Ham and led the club to the Europa Conference League title as his last act.
Mikel Arteta, who has mostly relied on Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard as his midfielders last season, has been keen to strengthen in that area of the field. He looks to have got his No 1 target.
Rice’s potential record-breaking move in numbers
Rice’s amicable Hammers departure
Hammers chairman David Sullivan said a gentleman’s agreement meant Rice could leave despite having a year remaining on his contract, with the option to extend it by a further 12 months.
Rice joined West Ham’s academy from Chelsea as a teenager and has been ever-present since his breakthrough season in 2017-18. He took over the captaincy after Mark Noble’s retirement last year.
As Arsenal agree a £105m deal for Declan Rice, we take a look at his best Premier League moments for West Ham.
The 24-year-old played 50 games in all competitions last season as West Ham finished 14th in the Premier League, before winning the Europa Conference League in Prague.
Rice has played more than 200 games for West Ham and earned 41 caps for England since his international debut in 2019.
Neville: I would spend £50m-£60m on Rice
Speaking in March, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville said Rice is only worth around £50m-£60m – around half of the current figure being discussed by West Ham and Arsenal.
“I love Declan Rice,” Neville said. “Obviously, Declan knows the position, but when I look at world-class holding midfielders, and players of that type, because he doesn’t score or assist enough goals, you’re putting him into that category of more of a destroyer.
“[Then], you’ve then got to be someone who I think is highly competent on the ball and linking play, and having that knowledge of the subtleties of getting on the ball from the back four.
“I personally feel, at this moment in time, that Declan needs to go and work under a different set-up, he needs to drive forward in his career, he needs to go and play at a different club.
“I think there’s a lot of growth, and a lot for Declan to do to get up to the levels of Casemiro, Rodri and players at the top of the game in those positions.
“But, for me, I wouldn’t be spending £110m or £120m… I would spend £50m-£60m on Declan Rice, but I wouldn’t spend the figures being reported.”
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