Declan Rice Quits West Ham to join Arsenal for GBP 105 million

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

West Ham midfielder Declan Rice for GBP 105 million. The contract is made up of GBP 100 million initial fee and GBP 5 million performance-based payment. This is the highest amount any English club has paid for any English football player.

In other words, Declan Rice has become the highest-paid footballer in England. Rice has broken the earlier record of GBP 100 million which was paid by Manchester City to Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in 2021. Earlier, West Ham rejected two Arsenal offers for Declan Rice- GBP 80 million offer was followed by another offer of GBP 90 million that contained GBP 75 million initial amount and a GBP 15 million add-on amount.

In a video released from the Arsenal training centre, Manager Mikel Arteta and the entire team are seen welcoming Rice. Praising the new member of the team he said that Rice has enough Premier League experience at the age of 24. Calling him an exceptional talent, he said that he had brought undoubted quality to the club.

Bidding a goodbye to West Ham Saturday Declan Rice said that it was a ‘tough’ decision to leave the club he led to a Europa Conference League trophy, but it was in accordance with the ambition of playing at the highest level. He also said that he has gone through a whirlwind of emotions in the past few days and weeks, but he also can reflect on what has been a special part of his life. He also shared his memories of traveling from South London to Essex for a trial at West Ham at the age of 14.