West Ham will not be rushed into selling Declan Rice and want a significant amount of his transfer fee paid up front.
Arsenal lead Bayern Munich and Manchester United in the race for Rice and are expected to make a formal approach in the coming days.
West Ham have set an asking price of £120million for their captain, but Arsenal will hope to strike a deal closer to £90m — which would make Rice their club-record signing.
The Hammers want a significant amount of the fee paid up front after spending more than £170m on new recruits last summer.
The club will use Jude Bellingham’s move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid as a benchmark, with the 19-year-old commanding a fee of £115m. Crucially, Madrid have agreed to pay £88.5m of that up front.
Agreeing terms with Rice is not expected to be an issue for Arsenal, but the structuring of any fee with West Ham will be important.
The Gunners had been in advanced talks to sign Mykhailo Mudryk in January and player terms were not an issue then. However, they were beaten to his signature after Chelsea’s bid to Shakhtar Donetsk contained more achievable add-ons.
West Ham are not in a rush to sell Rice and are determined to get the maximum fee they can for the 24-year-old. United and Bayern are also eyeing Rice, although it is thought his preference is to remain in England.
The Hammers are helped in their desire not to rush through a sale by the fact that Rice will not be part of their pre-season tour to Australia at the start of July.
Rice is playing for England in this month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, and will be given an extended break by West Ham. The same applies to other West Ham players competing in qualifiers, and the squad that goes to Australia will largely feature academy youngsters and senior players not called up, such as centre-back Kurt Zouma.
If Arsenal sign Rice, it would pave the way for Granit Xhaka to leave the club — and the midfielder is in advanced talks over a move to Bayer Leverkusen.
The German side are ready to part with £13m to sign the 30-year-old, but Arsenal will not sanction his sale until a deal for Rice is agreed. Xhaka has one year left on his contract at Arsenal, with the option for a further 12 months.
The Gunners are also interested in Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo, who they failed to sign during the January transfer window after their two bids were rejected. The second of those was around £70m and it is thought Brighton want more now to sell him.
Arsenal want to sign two midfielders this summer and also hold an interest in Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan. The German’s contract expires at the end of this month, but City want him to stay.
Gundogan, who is also attracting interest from Barcelona and clubs in Saudi Arabia, will decide his future after tomorrow’s Champions League Final.
