West Ham skipper Declan Rice is the latest player to be announced as a new Arsenal player, in a new British transfer record of £105million.
West Ham sipper Declan Rice whose transfer had been one of the biggest transfer sagas of the summer after an impressive campaign with the Hammers ended with him starring in their Europa Conference League triumph over Fiorentina in May, with Arsenal and Man City battling for his signature ever since.
The Gunners had two bids rejected for the 24-year-old – one of £80m and another of £90m – before City entered the race and had their own offer turned down.
But after City dropped out of negotiations, Arsenal became the unchallenged frontrunners for Rice – despite interest from Manchester United – and the club finally had a £100m bid plus £5m in add-ons accepted.
Since coming to an agreement, both clubs have been locked in talks about how to structure the payments and iron out the finer details of the deal.
Arsenal’s offer proposed the guaranteed portion of the fee be paid over the course of four years, while West Ham ideally wanted the cash paid in two instalments by the start of 2025.
However, the deal hit a brief snag after both clubs delayed in confirming the agreement as they hashed out the structure and legalities of the transfer.
Ahead of the deal, Rice has been in Portugal, training alongside Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, and his Portugal team-mate Rafael Leao of AC Milan at luxury sports complex The Campus, in Quinto do Lago in the Algarve region.
The deal also smashes Arsenal’s own club-record transfer fee, which was previously held by Nicolas Pepe following his £72m move from Lille in 2019.
Rice has been at West Ham since joining their academy from Chelsea in 2014 and led the team to their first major trophy in 43 years when they lifted the Europa Conference League last season.