Declan Rice‘s record-breaking transfer to Arsenal could be completed as early as Thursday with the finer details of the deal being ironed out.
West Ham and Arsenal have agreed on a fee totalling £105m – £100m with £5m in add-ons – which will make Rice the most expensive British player ever.
The process has reached its final stages with only minor agreements still to be confirmed. West Ham want the £100m paid over a shorter space of time than Arsenal have proposed.
Rice is set to undergo a medical at the north London club and it is hoped the transfer, the negotiations for which have stretched on for several months, will be completed this week at the latest.
The twists and turns of Declan Rice’s transfer
7 June: Declan Rice captains West Ham to Europa Conference League glory before immediately batting away questions over his future.
8 June: West Ham chairman David Sullivan says the club have told Rice he can leave: “We gave the promise last summer… It’s a fair and proper thing to do.”
15 June: The Hammers reject an initial bid of £80m, plus add ons, from Arsenal for the midfielder, who has a year left on his contract.
20 June: The day after Rice ends his season with an England win over North Macedonia, Arsenal have a second bid, of £75m + £15m, turned down.
26 June: Manchester City make opening £90m offer (£80m + £10m) for Rice following the departure of Ilkay Gundogan to Barcelona.
27 June: City’s bid is rejected as Arsenal return with a £105m (+ £5m) offer.
Arsenal had to see off a late attempt by Manchester City to sign the 24-year-old. Pep Guardiola is seeking a replacement for Ilkay Gundogan, who left for Barcelona, but turned to alternative targets when Arsenal offered upwards of £100m.
City had a bid of around £90m rejected by West Ham and the auction helped drive up Rice’s fee to nearer West Ham’s valuation.
A breakthrough between West Ham and Arsenal came on Wednesday evening and the move is now close to completion.
It will make Rice the most expensive British player ever, although he could be usurped by England team-mate Jude Bellingham. The initial fee Real Madrid paid Borussia Dortmund for the teenager was around £88m but the deal is said to include add-ons that could reach £115m.
Rice and the addition of Kai Havertz, signed from Chelsea for £65m this week, signify a major outlay for Arsenal as the club look to capitalise on a strong season under Mikel Arteta in which they led the Premier League for much of the campaign until they fell away at the end.
With spending power increased following qualification for the Champions League, Arsenal have tied down a number of young players to longterm contracts, including Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, and are now landing major transfer targets.
What Rice brings to Arsenal’s midfield
By Kat Lucas
The incoming West Ham legend – and he will be remembered as such after bowing out – steps in neatly to compensate for Arteta losing Thomas Partey’s defensive solidity.
Rice made more interceptions than any other Premier League player last season (63) and made 78 tackles (with a success rate of 81 per cent – up from 66 per cent in the previous campaign).
A necessary aid to this Arsenal side’s shape without the ball and with it, no one in England’s top flight won possession as many times as him (334). Since 2017-18, his pass completion has not fallen below 86 per cent over a whole campaign.
That speaks of his evolution from a right-sided centre-back as a youngster. Indeed a move of this significance might well have happened sooner in his career had he not taken so long to shake off that notion of a defender experimenting in midfield in his early years.
At 24 years of age, his attacking output has improved too. Four goals and two assists in 2022-23 was his career best tally even as West Ham struggled domestically. The midfielder was by far their standout performer and was Gareth Southgate’s first choice at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, averaging more passes per game than any other England midfielder.
Exactly how he operates as a deep-lying playmaker could depend on the personnel around him, with Arteta expected to maintain a 4-3-3 system. Jorginho has announced he will stay despite speculation linking him with a transfer away just five months after his arrival, but Mohamed Elneny and Albert Sambi Lokonga are among a long list who could be move on.
Read Kat’s full analysis on Arsenal’s new signing here
