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Arsenal complete club-record signing of Declan Rice for £105m
Arsenal have completed the signing of Declan Rice from West Ham United for a club-record fee that could total as much as £105 million.
The Gunners had an offer accepted by the Hammers at the third time of asking after seeing off competition from Manchester City.
There was a fair bit of wrangling over the payment terms but the two clubs got there in the end with the majority of the fee being paid within the first two years of the England international’s five-year contract.
The deal has been in the pipeline for some time with news breaking in January that Mikel Arteta and Edu had identified the midfielder as their number-one target for the summer. Along the way, Manchester United and Bayern Munich did their best to lure him elsewhere but it was always reported that he favoured Arsenal.
Rice’s arrival, in tandem with the recruitment of Kai Havertz from Chelsea, means the Gunners were able to sanction Granit Xhaka’s move to Bayer Leverkusen.
In total, Rice made 245 appearances for West Ham, scoring 15 goals and making 13 assists. In his final match for the club, he captained them to glory in the UEFA Conference League, sealing their first major trophy since 1980.
Rice started his career at Chelsea before climbing through the ranks in the East End to make his debut in 2017. A year later he featured for the Republic of Ireland in a friendly but later switched international allegiance to England. He’s since played 43 times for the Three Lions and started every match in Euro 2020 and last year’s World Cup.
Arsenal had hoped Rice would be available for the training camp in Germany but the final paperwork took longer than anticipated. On the plus side, he will be part of the squad that travels to the USA on Sunday.
Here are some additional details about the deal.
- The initial fee is £100 million, with a further £5 million in add-ons.
- Rice has signed a five-year contract with Arsenal.
- He will wear the number 4 shirt.
- He is the club’s record signing, surpassing the £72 million paid for Nicolas Pepe in 2019.
This is a major signing for Arsenal and one that they have been targeting for some time. Rice is a top-class midfielder who will add a lot of quality and depth to the squad. He is also a leader and will be a valuable asset to Mikel Arteta’s team.
I’m sure Arsenal fans will be delighted with this signing and they will be hoping that he can help them challenge for trophies in the coming years.
