Arsenal have finalised an agreement in principle with West Ham to sign Declan Rice for £105 million (€122 million) after Manchester City pulled out of the race for the midfielder.
Arsenal made a third offer of £100 million plus £5 million in add-ons on Tuesday night and only minor issues relating to the structure of the deal remained to be completed on Wednesday evening. City had a £90 million bid rejected earlier on Tuesday and did not want to go as high as Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola had identified Rice as a replacement for Ilkay Gündogan after the Germany midfielder’s move to Barcelona on a free transfer. Insiders at West Ham had expected City to submit an improved offer for Rice on Wednesday morning.
West Ham have been holding out for at least £100 million and have used City’s interest to drive up the price for their captain. The fee for the England international will top the £100 million City paid to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa two years ago and make Rice the most expensive British player. Chelsea, Manchester United and Bayern Munich had also looked at signing Rice, but Arsenal have been at the front of the queue since Christmas.
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Arsenal had an offer of £75 million plus £15 million in add-ons rejected last week, with West Ham unhappy with the proposal to spread the guaranteed portion of the payment over five years. The size of Arsenal’s offer is acceptable to West Ham, who used Jude Bellingham’s move to Real Madrid on an initial £88.5 million as a guide during negotiations.
City’s bid had left Arsenal at risk of missing out on Mikel Arteta’s top target. Yet the message from well-placed sources has constantly been that Rice wants to join Arsenal. The 24-year-old preferred to remain in London – he recently became a father and is very attached to his family – and finalising terms over a long-term deal with Arsenal will not be a problem.
Arteta has made clear to Rice where he will fit into his team and has plans to build his midfield around the player and Kai Havertz, whose £65 million (€75 million) transfer from Chelsea was confirmed on Wednesday evening. Havertz has played as a No 9 for Chelsea but will be used in a deeper role for Arsenal. Arteta is also close to sealing a £50 million (€58 million) deal for the Ajax defender Jurriën Timber and wants the Southampton midfielder Roméo Lavia.
Arsenal are spending heavily as they look to mount another title challenge and could make space for Rice by selling Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen and Thomas Partey to Juventus.
Rice’s final game for West Ham was the Europa Conference League final win over Fiorentina this month. West Ham have accepted his wish to leave and compete at a higher level. Rice joined after being released by Chelsea aged 14 and has become one of the best players in their history. Renowned for his ability as a defensive midfielder, Rice will hope to develop the attacking side to his game at Arsenal.
West Ham will look to replace Rice with two central midfielders – there is interest in Fulham’s João Palhinha, Juventus’s Denis Zakaria, Everton’s Amadou Onana and Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse – and also want a centre back. They will rival Newcastle, Aston Villa and Tottenham for the Leicester winger Harvey Barnes.
Tottenham completed the signing of Leinster’s James Maddison in a £40 million (€46.3 million) deal that sees the England international agree terms on a five-year contract and his arrival will come as a major boost for Ange Postecoglou. The new Spurs manager wants to reconfigure his side in an attacking 4-3-3 and signing Maddison, who was unable to prevent Leicester from dropping into the Championship last season, will increase his creative options.
Spurs, who have completed the €20 million signing of the Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli, have tracked Maddison since he was a youngster at Coventry. They missed out on the attacking midfielder when he moved to Norwich in 2016 and again when he joined Leicester in 2018.
Maddison has remained a target and Spurs emerged as frontrunners in the race to sign the 26-year-old when Newcastle United switched their focus to buying the Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali from Milan last week. Leicester had hoped to receive £60 million for Maddison but have been forced to take a lower fee.
Spurs advanced their interest this week and are expected to sell the midfielder Harry Winks to Leicester. Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, will hope that signing Maddison lifts the mood around the club after a difficult season. Levy is intent on resisting Bayern Munich’s attempts to sign Harry Kane.
Bayern bid £60 million for Kane on Tuesday and the striker wants to join Thomas Tuchel’s side. Spurs are determined not to lose the 29-year-old, even though his contract ends next year, and are unlikely to accept anything less than £100 million for the England captain. Kane will regard moving to Bayern as a chance to win the first trophy of his career.
It is a rebuilding job for Postecoglou, who could play Maddison as an advanced No 8 or as part of his front three. Maddison earned a spot in the England squad for the 2022 World Cup and he has three caps. He contributed 10 goals and nine assists in the Premier League last season. – Guardian
