Arsenal’s third official bid for West Ham’s Declan Rice totaling £105million has finally at least managed to pry open the door for negotiations between the two clubs after the initial two bids had been flatly rejected, Jacob Steinberg reports in The Guardian.
Manchester City’s £90m offer with the assurance of £80m up front on Monday night (26 June) had previously been the highest received to date but had also found the rejection trove as quickly as Arsenal’s first two bids.
Clearly the Gunners seem to be resolute and sticking to the guns in pursuing Rice as Mikel Arteta’s side have now pushed theirk offer to nine-figures, improving their bid significantly. Despite this, the race evidently is not yet over yet as the Hammers are reportedly “unhappy” with the payment structure of the Tuesday night proposal.
According to Steinburg: “However the bid is yet to be accepted by West Ham, even though it would set a record for a British player. They are unhappy with the payment structure proposed and, while they have not rejected the offer, talks between the clubs are ongoing.
“West Ham have been holding out for £100m and are expecting City, who have had a £90m bid rejected, to come in with a new offer on Wednesday. One source suggested Arsenal may need to raise their offer to £110m to see off City.”
The sliver of hope for the moment for the Gunners is that the most recent figure offered has at least earned Arteta’s side the benefit of negotiations rather than a flat rejection although that’s still no guarantee of success at the negotiating table as Guardiola’s side is known to be very persuasive when they have their eyes set on their target.
There’s still the nagging doubt that despite the increase from the Emirates now being sizeable, the Irons aren’t exactly rubbing their hands together with glee the way the bid has been laid out, with the assumption that the deal doesn’t translate into immediate money. West Ham are clearly not predisposed towards having to wait a long time to receive whatever windfall they hope to get from this deal.
Needless to say, expectations now are that the Gunners latest bid will prompt a speedy response from the Sky Blues in this now developing game of of cat and mouse between the Premier League’s champions and runners-up last season.
Clearly the battle has shifted off the pitch now.