Arsenal are on the verge of signing Declan Rice after finally agreeing a £105m deal with West Ham. The move will see the midfielder become Arsenal’s most expensive signing of all time, as well as the most expensive English player of all time with the deal pipping the £100m Manchester City spent on Jack Grealish in 2021.
The Hammers have now granted Rice permission to complete his medical and the 24-year-old is expected to officially sign for the Gunners in the coming days.
The two clubs had been locked in negotiations ever since Manchester City pulled out of the race following Arsenal’s third bid of £100m + £5m last week. All that was left to thrash out was the structure of the deal, which has now been agreed, with Arsenal set to pay the fee in three instalments over a 24-month period.
Rice, who has been Arsenal’s number one transfer target since the 2022/23 season wrapped up, will become Mikel Arteta’s second signing of the summer following Kai Havertz’s £65m move from Chelsea last week.
A £40m move for Ajax defender Jurrien Timber is also expected to completed in the coming days, with Arsenal’s summer spending set to exceed the £200m mark for the very first time. Rice is expected to earn around £250,000-a-week at Arsenal with personal terms having been verbally agreed weeks ago.
The midfielder is expected to play at the heart of Arteta’s new-look midfield next season alongside Havertz and Martin Odegaard, particularly with both Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey, who were mainstays in the team last season, expected to depart the club this summer.
The former Chelsea youth star made 245 appearances in all competitions for West Ham, having joined them as a teenager in 2014. He also 43 caps for England, having been a near ever-present in the side since making his debut in 2019.
Source: dailystar
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