ARSENAL have agreed a club-record £105million fee for West Ham captain Declan Rice.
The Gunners faced stiff competition from Manchester City – who saw a £90m offer rejected earlier this week.
But now Mikel Arteta’s men have finally got a deal in principle over the line for the England international, 24.
Two previous bids from Arsenal had been rejected by the Hammers.
And the East London outfit were initially unsatisfied with Arsenal’s third offer of £105m – submitted on Tuesday and made up of £100m upfront and a further £5m in add-ons.
But after City walked away, the Hammers have accepted the deal with Arsenal.
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However, the Gunners want to make the payments over the next five years – but West Ham want the money all paid by 2025.
SunSport understands a compromise over the payment structure is “very close”.
Once that has been sorted out, Rice will prepare to link up with the rest of Arteta’s squad in the coming weeks.
Rice’s preferred destination was always North London, despite his admiration for Pep Guardiola and their trophy haul.
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He was open to moving his family up north to Manchester had Arsenal refused to budge on their initial offers, but that is now not the case.
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The player is away on holiday and not expected back for another fortnight following his England exploits.
Arteta wants Rice fully integrated before they head off on their pre-season tour to the States, their opening game coming on July 20.
He leaves West Ham having led the club to their first major silverware in 43 years – winning the Europa Conference League in his final game.
Rice was preparing to enter the last year of his contract at the London Stadium.
He had rejected improved contract offers over the past 18 months as West Ham looked to tie him down to a longer deal.
This included the chance to earn £200,000 a week.
But chairman David Sullivan admitted after the Conference League win that the memorable final would likely have been Rice’s final game for the club because he “wanted to go” – and so it has proved.
Rice was in Chelsea’s academy until he was released aged 14 and joined West Ham in 2014.
He broke through into the first team in 2017 and has gone on to make 245 appearances for the East Londoners.
The dramatic 2-1 win over Fiorentina in Prague, sealed by Jarrod Bowen’s late winner, etched skipper Rice’s name into the club’s history books forever.
But few could begrudge the talismanic figure from fulfilling his desire to compete for the top titles regularly, including the Premier League and Champions League.
Arsenal confirmed the signing of Chelsea ace Kai Havertz for £65m on Wednesday evening.
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Arteta hinted he has signed the German to play as a midfielder – rather than in attack as he did at Stamford Bridge.
A £40m offer is also in for Ajax defender Timber and they are in talks with Southampton for £45m-rated Lavia.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
