The Declan Rice transfer saga appears to be nearing an end as Arsenal close in on landing their top midfield target this summer. The Gunners made the West Ham captain their top priority in the market as part of a rebuild to their central ranks, but saw their first two offers - £80million and £90million respectively - rejected.
Manchester City entered the battle, firming up their interest with a first offer that was also rejected by the Hammers, but the two teams were closing in on the reported £100million valuation. football.london understands that Arsenal made a club-record bid for Rice on Tuesday, with other reports claiming it reached £105million.
It is believed that there has been an agreement in principle over the figure stated, with finer details on installments still to be negotiated. City have backed out of the race as a result and reports also claim that a medical has been approved by the Hammers to complete a deal swiftly.
However, the main sticking point in the deal currently appears to be over the finances that work for both parties as part of the deal. with agent Jon Smith explaining why it is so important. He told CaughtOffside: "£100million is a lot of money, even today. I wouldn’t just be writing out the cheque, I’d be wanting to cash flow it. I’d be wanting it over the five years, three years, whatever term I would want, and then David Sullivan would obviously want it on his terms.
"Then you ask the question is it really £100million or is it £80million? If he plays 30 games, there’s another £20m and so on and so on. Bear in mind every movement in this saga isn’t like you and me arguing over a car. I offer £30k and you want £33k – it’s not quite as simple as that because these are big sums and every movement of that decimal point is 10s of millions of pounds difference. That’s why it takes a little bit of time."
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It remains to be seen exactly how long it will take for the two teams to reach an agreement in the coming days as the saga nears an end. However, it is also reaching a crucial stage to get the move over the line and confirmed ahead of pre-season and so the rest of the window can be planned out.
