July 4th 2023.
After lengthy negotiations, Arsenal and West Ham have come to a total agreement on the payment structure for Declan Rice's transfer to the Gunners. The 24-year-old is set to become an Arsenal player in the coming days after a deal worth £100m, plus £5m in add-ons, was agreed last week.
The move has been expected to happen for some time, however, negotiations have not been easy. The Gunners initially tried to get the England star for less than the agreed fee, while Manchester City also tried to gazump their move with a lower bid of £90m.
Now that all of the details have been sorted out, Declan Rice has been given permission by West Ham to finalise personal terms with Arsenal and undergo a medical. It is not expected that there will be any issue on either of those fronts, meaning Rice's move to the Gunners is imminent.
Mikel Arteta will hope to have Rice involved in Arsenal's pre-season friendly schedule as soon as possible. The Gunners have their first match on 13 July against Nurnberg, followed by meetings with MLS All-Stars, Manchester United, Barcelona and Monaco. Rice will be integrated into Arteta's new-look team along with Kai Havertz, who has already signed from Chelsea.
With the addition of Declan Rice to the Arsenal squad, the Gunners will have a very different midfield from the one that took them to finishing second in the Premier League last season. Meanwhile, Arsenal are now targeting £50m-rated Southampton star Romeo Lavia after the Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber deals.
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