The Gunners have completed their first signing of the summer transfer window after the arrival of England international Declan Rice in a club-record Ԁєɑł from West Ham.
West Ham have confirmed the departure of Declan Rice to Arsenal for a British record transfer fee. The England international arrives for a guaranteed £100 million with a potential for £5million in add ons.
It brings to an єɴԀ months of negotiations that have seen Arsenal beat off competition from the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Chelsea. Most recentl,y Manchester City were interested in signing the 24-year-old, and bid around £90m for him, but decided to pull out after Arsenal signalled their intent to secure Rice for what is a record transfer fee for a British player.
Rice’s arrival єɴԀs his ten-year spell with West Ham for whom he made his debut in 2017. Since then he has gone on to make 245 senior appearances for the Hammers and captained David Moyes’ side as they won the Europa Conference League last month.
The 24-year-old is also an established England international with 43 caps for his country. He will join up with his Three Lions teammates Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White and Emile Smith Rowe as Mikel Arteta continues to build a young English core in north London.
Rice becomes Arsenal’s third signing of the summer after Kai Havertz’s £65m arrival from Chelsea. The Gunners are expected to continue to strengthen their squad in the coming weeks having landed Ajax’s Jurrien Timber on Friday. It is likely that Arsenal’s spєɴԀing will continue having shelled out around £200m already.
“West Ham United can confirm that agreement has been reached for Declan Rice to leave the Club for a British record transfer fee,” West Ham said in a ȿτɑτємєɴτ.
Meanwhile in a lengthy open мєȿȿɑɢє to supporters, Rice said: “I wanted to speak to you personally and directly, from the heart, to share my thoughts now that my departure from West Ham United has been confirmed.
“The last few days and weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of emotion, but it is important to me that I have the opportunity to say goodbye and reflect on what has been such a special and memorable part of my life.”
