Declan Rice is on the brink of becoming Arsenal’s second signing of the summer after being granted permission to complete a medical following a £105m agreement between West Ham and the Gunners.
The Hammers have now granted Rice permission to complete his medical and the 24-year-old is expected to officially sign for the Gunners in the coming days, which will officially see the midfielder become Arsenal’s most expensive signing of all time, as well as the most expensive English player of all time with the deal overtaking the £100m Manchester City spent on Jack Grealish in 2021.
Negotiations between the two clubs finally came through after Manchester City pulled out of the race following Arsenal’s third bid of £100m plus £5m last week.
All then that was left to iron out was the payment structure of the deal, which has now finally been agreed after a supposed temporary deadlock, with Arsenal set to pay the fee in three instalments over a 24-month period.
Rice, who has been Arsenal’s top priority transfer target since the 2022/23 season ended, will become Mikel Arteta’s second signing of the summer following Kai Havertz’s £65m move from Chelsea last week.
Rice’s wages at Arsenal are expected to be around £250,000-a-week with personal terms having been verbally agreed weeks ago and the highly talented midfielder is expected to play next season alongside Havertz and Martin Odegaard, particularly with both team mainstays Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey expected to depart the club this summer.
The former Chelsea youth star made 245 appearances in all competitions for West Ham, having joined them as a teenager in 2014. He also 43 caps for England, having been a near ever-present in the side since making his debut in 2019.
Ajax defender Jurrien Timber is also expected to be signed for £40m in the coming days, with Arsenal’s summer spending now set to exceed the £200m mark for the very first time.