Arsenal agree structure of £105m Declan Rice transfer
- Rice to become most expensive player in British football history
- Manchester City backed away after having a £90m bid rejected
- Arsenal previously had two offers knocked back by West Ham
Arsenal have reached an agreement with West Ham for the British record transfer of Declan Rice, which will be worth £105m overall, sources have confirmed to 90min.
The Gunners had already seen two bids for Rice turned down, before submitting a third offer that totalled £105m. That blew a £90m package from Manchester City out of the water and saw the reigning Premier League and European champions pull out of the race.
Although it hit their valuation of Rice, West Ham were not initially prepared to accept Arsenal’s bid as a result of the proposed payment structure – the Gunners were offering a guaranteed £100m spread over more than three years, but the Hammers wanted it in two.
The total sum being offered was not the problem and it paved the way for negotiations to continue.
READ MORE ON DECLAN RICE JOINING ARSENAL & THE SAGA INVOLVING MAN CITY
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However, 90min now understands that the structure of the transfer has been agreed. The exact payment dates must still be ironed out, but an agreement there is also very close.
Arsenal, who finished second in the Premier League title race to Manchester City – having led the way for most of the season, has remained Rice’s preferred destination and personal terms have already been all but agreed for him to complete a move to the Emirates Stadium.
Signing the England midfield will take Arsenal’s summer spend north of £200m, with a transfer for Kai Havertz already seemingly leaked before an official announcement and a deal for Jurrien Timber close after Ajax lowered their price demands to move towards a compromise.
Such moves mark a significant statement of intent for Arsenal ahead of their return to next season’s Champions League, a first time back in the elite competition since the 2016/17 campaign.
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On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss Tottenham's denial of receiving a bid from Bayern Munich for Harry Kane, Man Utd's ongoing pursuit of Mason Mount & more! If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!