£105m Rice deal sees Arsenal ‘green light’ another transfer as payment structure is revealed

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has given the “here we go” to Declan Rice’s transfer to Arsenal with a deal now “complete”.

The Gunners had a bid of £105m accepted last week for the England international with the finer details being ironed out over the last seven days,

Rice had made it clear that he wanted to play Champions League football as soon as possible with the Hammers unlikely to be playing there anytime soon.

And Romano now claims everything has been agreed between the clubs and player with everyone now waiting for the official announcement.

It also means that Granit Xhaka can now complete an exit to Bayer Leverkusen with Arsenal waiting to seal Rice’s move before giving the “green light”.

Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “It’s an historic day in English football because Arsenal have finally got their man – Declan Rice to Arsenal, here we go! The agreement is done between Arsenal and West Ham, things were finalised late last night and now it’s complete – the fee, the payment terms, everything.

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“Rice will now undergo medical tests with Arsenal this week, probably on Friday, that’s the plan for all parties right now, and then an official statement. Rice will be an Arsenal player, the most expensive English player in the history of the game, and the most expensive signing in the Gunners’ history – £105m. This is a very important moment, and I want to share some more behind-the-scenes details of this story.

“Mikel Arteta and Edu, they never lost their patience at the key points in this story. When Manchester City entered the race, Arsenal didn’t panic, they decided to wait and then send in their best proposal – the strategy was very clear. They decided back in January that Rice would be their top target, and now they’ve got their man after long and complicated negotiations.

“I’ve also been saying in the last couple of weeks that if Rice becomes an Arsenal player, it’s going to be thanks to Arteta – behind the scenes, he’s been pushing, and explaining to Rice just how crucial he’s going to be to the project, on and off the pitch. Rice was really attracted to the plan. Arteta also pushed internally with the directors and owners to give him this signing.

“This also means Arsenal can now give the green light to Granit Xhaka to join Bayer Leverkusen as they were waiting to finalise the Rice deal. And after that, an agreement with Ajax for Jurrien Timber is very close, and now that Rice is done, the focus will be to complete the signing of Timber.”

On how Arsenal will pay the transfer fee for Rice, The Athletic journalist David Ornstein revealed: “Payment structure will see West Ham receive £100m fixed fee in 3 instalments over 24 months.”