Declan Rice is on the verge of becoming an Arsenal player. Manchester City pulled out of the race to sign the England international on Thursday morning, leaving the Gunners with the challenge of agreeing a structure for their deal worth more than £100 million.
Tuesday evening saw Arsenal submit a club record bid worth £100m plus an additional £5m in add-ons, football.london understands. More negotiations have been required, before West Ham agree to a deal with the structure of how the fixed £100m fee will be paid the remaining issue, football.london understands.
Regardless, it appears that path is clear for Arsenal, with the North London side also being Rice's preferred desitination. It is a situation that may have seemed unfathomable for Chelsea 12 months.
The Blues have been left in a scenario without Champions League football at an inopportune time and simply not in a position to prove a persuasive destination when Europe's premier competition is a driving force behind Rice wanting a transfer. The midfielder had been a target who could provide leadership qualities the Blues miss as their team undergoes tremendous transition and transformation.
The completion of Rice's move will signal a missed opportunity but also clearly inform why Chelsea need to quickly bounce back under Mauricio Pochettino, with another midfielder holding their attention this summer.
Moises Caicedo is a priority for the Blues as Chelsea look to replace the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and N'Golo Kante but will not come cheap. Brighton have proven tough negotiators against Chelsea in the past 12 months.
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football.london understands Chelsea and Caicedo have already verbally agreed on personal terms but the Blues are yet to meet the Seagulls' valuation, in the region of £80m. That Arsenal have laid a platform where in excess of £100m has been spent on a Premier League midfielder could prove problematic for the Blues given Caicedo that runs until 2027.
That is not to say Caicedo's price will be driven up but it may make negotiations more difficult. Perhaps even Chelsea could be blamed for breaking their transfer record on a similar £106m fee for Enzo Fernandez earlier this year.
On that occasion, Benfica proved steadfast in negotiations. Chelsea were happy to pay his release clause but wanted to spread the cost across a number of installments, a familiar issue for a number of deals. It wasn't until the depths of deadline day an agreement was reached, and Arsenal and Chelsea will hope they can get their deals this summer over the line more efficiently.
The Blues' determination to sign Caicedo will no-doubt be tested. They've proved themselves willing to do what was needed so far.
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