Anthony Onifade

Sat 15 July 2023 6:40, UK

West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice should finally be unveiled as an Arsenal player on Saturday [15 July], according to Fabrizio Romano.

Arsenal and West Ham United reached a full agreement over the £120 million plus add-ons transfer of Declan Rice over a week ago and it was reported that the Hammers were growing frustrated with how long the deal was taking.

And according to Romano, taking to his Twitter account in the early hours of Saturday morning, reported that Rice should be announced as a new Arsenal player on 15 July, with the deal now officially “done and sealed”.

He tweeted: “Declan Rice will be finally unveiled as new Arsenal player today.

“No issues, it was just a matter of time.

“Done and sealed.”

Final end to the saga

While we’re all happy Rice is taking the next step in his promising career, joining Arsenal, the saga that has led to this point has been nothing short of gruelling and time-consuming with the Gunners taking a while to complete the paperwork.

It seriously felt like they didn’t want to complete the signing and the England international looked like he’d be staying at the London Stadium, much to the joy of the West Ham United support.

Finally, though, this saga is drawing to a close with Rice all set to be unveiled as Arsenal’s latest addition on Saturday, and now the Hammers can move on and seek potential replacements in the market.

West Ham United face a huge task replacing the midfield now and David Moyes may well be tempted to add two or three midfielders to his ranks, especially with Rice’s partner Tomas Soucek also looking likely to leave.

With just under four weeks to go until the season kicks off, the Irons face a run against time to ensure their team is competitive from the first whistle against Newcastle United on 12 August.

In other West Ham news, Sky Sports share positive West Ham talks to seal new defensive transfer