Arsenal have reportedly made an astonishing £105 million offer for West Ham captain Declan Rice. If accepted the deal would be a British record transfer, eclipsing Jack Grealish’s £100m move to Manchester City.
The story has been broken once again by David Ornstein who writes for The Athletic. It is understood that the offer is the result of a hurriedly convened board meeting at arsenal, to counter the earlier bid by Manchester City. Mikel Arteta is believed to have met with executive directors and Edu to force a rapidly improved bid.
If West Ham owner David Sullivan was previously chuckling at Arsenal’s first two offers, he won’t be laughing now. £105 million is a serious bid, and it is believed to involve a base payment of £100m. The additional five million is part of an add-on package.
Arsenal have offered a British record transfer fee of £105 million for Declan Rice
West Ham were not impressed with Arsenal’s initial attempts to spread payments over four years. It will be interesting to see the structure of this deal, but the Hammers would ideally like the fee paid within 18 months.
The ball has now been placed firmly in Manchester City’s court. Arsenal’s bid is an excellent one in my opinion and will test the resolve of the Hammers board. The Manchester club have been asked to be kept informed of developments, so they’ll be fully aware of the bid.
Whether they’ll be willing to match Arsenal remains to be seen. However I do think this demonstrates to the player quite how much Arsenal want him. I would not be surprised if the Gunners show of financial muscle is enough to sway Rice’s final decision.