West Ham reject first Arsenal bid for Declan Rice

West Ham have rejected Arsenal’s opening offer for captain Declan Rice, with the Gunners’ bid ‘much lower’ than their asking price.

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The England midfielder is expected to leave the Hammers during the transfer window, but the east London club have placed a hefty £100m price tag on him.

TalkSPORT report that Arsenal had suggested they were willing to meet the asking price but their first bid was significantly less and it has been rejected.

The Athletic report that Manchester City are also ‘actively exploring an approach of their own’ for Rice, but are yet to make a bid.

West Ham chairman David Sullivan confirmed that he expected the 24-year-old to leave this summer after coming to an agreement last year.

Speaking after the Hammers beat Fiorentina to win the Europa Conference League, Sullivan said: ‘We gave the promise last summer that if he gave us his all, we would let him leave the club. It’s a fair and proper thing to do.

‘West Ham is a very proper club, and we do things in a proper way. At the same time, we don’t want some club having us over and a replacement is going to cost 50 to 60 million and they’re not going to be as good as him.’

Rice has one year left on his contract with West Ham but the club have the option to extend the deal to 2025, so they remain in a strong position to demand a huge fee.

Sullivan also revealed that the midfielder turned down a massive new deal as he intends to move on.

‘We promised him he could go. He set his heart on going. You can’t ask for a man who has committed more to us this season,’ Sullivan told talkSPORT.

‘In due course, he has to get on and we have to get a replacement – or several replacements.

‘It’s not something we want to happen. We offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago. He turned it down. It’s cost him £10million to stay at West Ham in that time (in lost wages). And he wants to go. You can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to be there.’

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