West Ham are not prepared to accept Arsenal’s British record £105m bid for Declan Rice as it stands, sources have told 90min.
Rice is at the centre of a tug-of-war involving Premier League champions Manchester City, who hope he will follow in the footsteps of Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who joined from Chelsea for an initial £25m fee on Tuesday.
City have had a £90m offer for Rice turned down by West Ham, comprised of £80m in guaranteed money plus £10m in add-ons, while Arsenal have already seen two bids rejected by the Hammers.
90min reported on Arsenal’s third offer late on Tuesday night, which is a total package worth £105m to West Ham. That’s a figure that would not only represent a club-record purchase but would be a new British transfer record, surpassing the £100m City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in 2021.
But despite getting far closer to West Ham’s valuation, 90min understands that the Europa Conference League winners do not believe the structure of the deal is right.
READ MORE ABOUT THE DECLAN RICE TO ARSENAL/MAN CITY TRANSFER SAGA
Arsenal are currently proposing to pay the £100m guaranteed over a period of more than three years, whereas West Ham are expecting to receive all of the money by 2025. The amount itself isn’t regarded as a problem, making an agreement possible if the Gunners are willing to move their timeframes forward.
Manchester City are expected to make another bid for Rice, with Ilkay Gundogan’s move to Barcelona on a free transfer confirmed on Monday. Manchester United are also lingering in the background, though it would take something extraordinary from the Red Devils to be able to stump up a viable financial package.
90min understands that Arsenal remains Rice’s preferred destination, with personal terms all but agreed on a contract at the Emirates Stadium. Manager Mikel Arteta is also closing in on two other high-profile signings, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.
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On this week’s edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss Tottenham’s denial of receiving a bid from Bayern Munich for Harry Kane, Arsenal and Manchester City’s tug of war for West Ham captain Declan Rice, Man Utd’s ongoing pursuit of Mason Mount & more!
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