Arsenal finally agree £105million deal with West Ham for Declan Rice

Arsenal have finally agreed a fee with West Ham to sign Declan Rice, with the midfielder now set to move to north London imminently in a £105million deal.

After two previous offers were rejected, a third bid comprising of £100m in guaranteed cash plus a further £5m in bonuses has now been accepted by the Hammers.

The deal is not complete just yet, however, with the clubs still ironing out the finer details of the deal’s structure though that is unlikely to cause any issues.

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal’s current proposal would see the guaranteed portion of the fee paid over the course of four years – though originally they had tried to pay over the course of six.

West Ham, who have some Financial Fair Play issues to contend with, want the bulk of the £100m fixed fee to be paid much sooner than that and are asking for two instalments paid before the start of 2025.

The issue is only described as ‘minor’ and both clubs are now working on a compromise over the structure, but an agreement on the total outlay is – at last – firmly in place.

Rice had urged West Ham to accept the offer and is eager to play under Mikel Arteta, with the Spaniard selling a move to Arsenal to him during a lengthy face-to-face chat.

The £105m fee will make Rice the most expensive British player in history, overtaking the £100m Manchester City paid to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa two years ago.

He is £2m shy of the Premier League record, however, which is still held by Enzo Fernandez when Chelsea paid £107m to sign the World Cup winner from Benfica in January.

The price tag also sees Arsenal smash their own club-record transfer fee which previously stood at £72m – though fans will be hoping Rice fairs considerably better than Nicolas Pepe.

Arsenal’s spending will not end there, with the north London club also on the verge of sealing a £65m deal for Kai Havertz.

Arteta also wants to bring in a second midfielder – likely Southampton’s Romeo Lavia – while talks are progressing with Ajax to sign Jurrien Timber in a deal that will likely cost around £40m.

This summer’s massive spending splurge will partly be funded by outgoings, with Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka both expected to leave – to Saudi Arabia and Leverkusen respectively – while a host of fringe players are also likely to be offloaded.

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