Report: Arsenal finally reach £105M agreement to sign Rice from West Ham

After three bids and a late attempt by Manchester City to hijack negotiations, Arsenal finalized a record-breaking deal worth up to £105 million for West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice on Wednesday, The Guardian's Jacob Steinberg reports.

Arsenal's third offer topped the reported £90-million proposal City tabled on Monday for Rice. West Ham reportedly rejected City's offer in the hopes of sparking a bidding war, but the Premier League champions ended up withdrawing from the negotiations altogether.

The Gunners reportedly met West Ham's asking price, agreeing to pay £100 million in guaranteed money and an additional £5 million in bonuses. City had no intention of bidding that much, according to Steinberg.

Crucially, the two sides appear to have resolved sizeable differences over the structure of the deal. Arsenal had initially offered to pay the sum in five years, but transfer insider Fabrizio Romano reports that West Ham had insisted on payment within 18 months.

Barring any last-minute snags, Arsenal will make Rice the most expensive British signing of all time, narrowly eclipsing the £100 million City paid to acquire Jack Grealish from Aston Villa in August 2021.

Rice reportedly preferred to stay in London and play in Arsenal's attacking system. He's now set to follow Kai Havertz - who left Chelsea on Wednesday for a reported £65 million - in moving across the capital to play for Mikel Arteta's title chasers.

West Ham will also recoup a sizeable fee for a player who had just one year remaining on his contract. Club owner David Sullivan admitted after West Ham won the Europa Conference League that Rice would leave in the summer.