West Ham United transfer news: Arsenal want five-year Declan Rice payment plan as £90million bid rejected – Kaveh Solhekol
The club-record Arsenal bid for Declan Rice proposed to pay West Ham over a period of five years, Kaveh Solhekol reports for Sky Sports.
The Hammers rejected the £75million bid Tuesday (20 June), with a further £15million available in add-ons, after it did not come close to the reported £120million valuation for the 24-year-old.
Solhekol explains that the guaranteed money was slated to arrive over a four year period, with the bonuses taking an extra 12 months if they were all triggered.
West Ham turned down the offer, and according to Fabrizio Romano (20 June) Manchester City expected to join the race this week.
Solhekol reports that the Irons will accept a cash amount lower than £120million if there is a player included in the deal.
Hefty
With top level transfers costing so much now it is often the manner in which the huge numbers are delivered that is as important as the fee itself.
Instalments for a fee so large are not unique, but with West Ham after a nine-figure price it is surely going to be difficult for Arsenal, or any other club, to land Rice if they aren’t even coming close to that years down the line.
Whether the Irons demands prove to be wishful thinking or not will become clear over the coming weeks, but it certainly looks like they are not minded to be accommodating if bids aren’t to their liking.
That is the club’s prerogative when they effectively have two years left on their captain’s contract, and while the prospect of a falling out with Rice himself is surely a situation the hierarchy would like to avoid, the ball is essentially in the buyers’ court to come up with a satisfactory offer at this stage.
A combination of factors, including overall number, the speed with which the money arrives at the London Stadium, and the likelihood of the add-ons actually coming into play, as well as potentially player swaps, are all going to help determine if and when this deal gets done.
The assumption is that the interaction between the Hammers and the Gunners, as well as whoever else gets involved, will eventually reach a point where the sale goes through.
But for now it appears there is still some distance between what Arsenal have put on the table and what West Ham will accept.