West Ham United ‘want two things’ in £100million Declan Rice stand off with Arsenal undeterred – Ben Jacobs
The structure of the deal, not the overall number, is what will be most important to West Ham when they sell Declan Rice, according to Ben Jacobs.
Sources at the London Stadium have blasted the £80million plus £10million in add-ons initial bid from Arsenal as “embarrassing” according to TEAMtalk on 19 June, with the Gunners favourites to ultimately win the race.
Jacobs is clear that the first offer was just the start of a process and Mikel Arteta’s side will definitely be back, with up-front money and achievable add-ons the key elements from the Hammers point of view.
The CBS journalist told GIVEMESPORT: “Arsenal’s approach has always been to try and get Declan Rice for under £100million. But we will wait and see whether or not that is feasible.
“They’ll be back with a second offer. Although people will fixate on the exact number, it is really the structure that is going to be key to this deal because West Ham want two things, regardless of what the number is.
“They want a big chunk of money up front to help them move in the market, and they want to make sure that the lion’s share of the add-ons are gettable.
“There’s work to be done on both the guaranteed fee and the structure of the deal, but the opening bid is still, ultimately, just a starting point. Arsenal are not going to walk away.”
Crunch talks
Based on the interactions in the past couple of weeks the Gunners’ plan to sign Rice for less than nine figures appears to be very much not feasible, but it remains to be seen how the rest of the summer shapes up.
Unless no other teams subsequently put money on the table it would be a major surprise for the amount on offer remains at the level Arsenal started with.
It is inevitable there will be some back and forth, but West Ham would surely like Manchester City and possibly Chelsea to get involved to put the pressure on and drive the price up.
Selling him for £150million in total if a major fraction of the money is tied up in bonuses that are only likely to arrive years down the line, if at all, won’t do much good to David Moyes right now.
A deal that starts a £100million up front, and has a few million in add-ons that are achievable in the next couple of seasons would be a different matter, but even then the Irons are going to want to get as much as possible when this deal has been so long in the offing.
Ultimately West Ham and Arsenal are both London and Premier League rivals, so while one will want to sell high and the other buy low they won’t be compelled to do each other any favours.
The movement elsewhere in the transfer market appears to suggest the Hammers will end up with an offer that they are satisfied with, but until the right bid is tabled it remains a hypothetical situation.