Arsenal and West Ham United close to agreeing deal worth in excess of £100m for Declan Rice
Arsenal and West Ham are close to agreeing a deal worth in excess of £100m for captain Declan Rice according to a report from The Guardian (12 June).
The Hammers have accepted that Rice will leave the club this summer, with Arsenal leading the race for his signature ahead of Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Manchester City.
But after there was a sticking point on the initial fee for the player with West Ham valuing him higher than Arsenal were, the clubs are now close to agreeing a fee including add-ons that would see everyone happy and a deal get done.
“Arsenal are close to agreeing a fee with West Ham for Declan Rice and are expected to pay more than £100m for the midfielder if certain add-ons are achieved,” they wrote.
“West Ham have accepted they are going to lose Rice and Arsenal are ready to make him the most expensive player in their history.
“A bid is yet to be submitted but talks between the clubs are progressing smoothly and there is confidence that the deal will be finalised soon.”
About time
This is a transfer saga that has been going on for several years with Rice being linked to an exit, but Arsenal have entered the race and it always looked like happening from that point on.
Rice has established himself as one of the very bests midfielders in the country if not Europe this season, with his performances helping the club to win their first trophy in 43 years.
With two years left on his contract at the club we always had the negotiating leverage to get the price we felt we deserved for him, and now we’ve got it.
West Ham can now push on with our own transfer business to not only replace him, but also strengthen the squad elsewhere to ensure we’re better next season without him.
He’ll be a huge loss and it’ll be nasty coming up against him in a different colour shirt but at least the deal got done quickly and didn’t drag on for ages.