Declan Rice has agreed to a 105 million euro transfer from West Ham to Arsenal

According to Farbizio Romano on Monday, an agreement between Arsenal and West Ham United for the 105 million euro transfer of English midfielder Declan Rice has been reached.

The third offer from Arsenal to the club—100 million euros plus 5 million euros in add-ons—seems to have worked, as the Gunners defeated Manchester City, who was prepared to make the Hammers an offer of 90 million euros, to capture the highly sought-after English player.

A rumor is that Arsenal will pay the guaranteed share of the money in three installments over the course of the next 24 months. The Gunners seems to have preferred to stretch out the same payment over a lengthier period of five years. However, in order to capture their top target for this summer, they gave in to West Ham’s demands.

Rice now surpasses Nicolas Pepe’s 72 million euro contract from 2019 as the most expensive acquisition ever for Arsenal.

Rice surpasses others like Manchester City’s Jack Grealish, who joined Manchester City in 2021 in the first £100 million + move in Premier League history, to become the most expensive English player ever.

The Mikel Arteta-led Arsenal are undoubtedly not resisting the impulse to spend lavishly in this summer’s transfer market as they gear up for another championship assault next season. Last week, they also acquired German attacker Kai Havertz for a staggering 65 million pounds.

With his defensive awareness, competitiveness, and ball-carrying abilities, Rice is anticipated to offer some much-needed muscle and leadership to the midfield.

But Arsenal’s search for quality is far from complete; the Gunners are still looking for another midfielder. Roméo Lavia, a 19-year-old Southampton midfielder who is presently being sought after by a number of other teams like Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United, seems to be Arteta’s target.

Arsenal look undeterred and continue their chase despite Liverpool’s developing confidence in recent weeks on signing the Belgian prodigy. By bringing in Lavia, the team would be able to completely rebuild their midfield and release Thomas Partey as well, who has been finding it difficult to maintain consistency.