Arsenal can blame Premier League rivals Chelsea for their pursuit of West Ham captain Declan Rice turning into a painful public bidding war with treble winners Manchester City. The Gunners are reportedly preparing a third bid for Rice over the coming days as they desperately scramble to beat City to his signature.
It has been claimed that West Ham are holding out for a record fee for Rice. Both Arsenal and City have seen their offers rejected up to this point.
Arsenal’s latest proposal amounted to £90million, with £75m up-front and an additional £15m in add-ons. City then submitted a similar bid structured to give West Ham £80m as a guaranteed fee and an extra £10m in bonuses.
West Ham have turned down all three offers made by the two clubs, with Arsenal now onto their third bid. And the Gunners can blame Chelsea for it getting this far.
According to TalkSPORT, the Hammers want a British-record transfer fee for Rice. They want a deal that eclipses the astronomical £106m Chelsea paid to sign Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in the January transfer window.
Chelsea paid over the odds for the Argentine star after his fantastic performances at the World Cup. And his transfer fee has now become the benchmark for players of a similar standard.
It means that any Premier League club now wanting to sign an elite defensive midfielder will now need to part with a fee at least close to nine figures. West Ham are well within their rights to demand such a fee for Rice, who has established himself as one of Europe’s best players in his position.
“Undoubtedly Declan is going to be a top player,” Hammers boss David Moyes said of Rice in January. “And undoubtedly he’ll be a British transfer record and more whenever he leaves West Ham.”
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