Arsenal transfer news: West Ham waiting on Gunners’ lawyers to seal Rice deal, Timber arrival imminent
By Story Agencies, July 11, 2023West Ham are ready to sign the contracts for Declan Rice to become an Arsenal player.
The Hammers are waiting for Arsenal’s lawyers to approve the final wording of the deal and, once that is done, they will sign and Rice will complete his move to north London.
Arsenal are hopeful of completing the signing of Rice before the squad flies to the USA for their pre-season tour on Sunday.
The deal for the midfielder will cost a club-record Ksh19.1 billion fee, broken down into an initial payment of Ksh18.2 billion with Ksh910 million in add-ons.
The deal will eclipse Arsenal’s previous record purchase, which is currently Nicolas Pepe from Lille for Ksh13.1 billion in 2019.
Rice’s signing will be just short of the British transfer record, which was set by Chelsea when they paid Benfica Ksh19.4 billion for Enzo Fernandez in January.
Arsenal are also expected to confirm the signing of Jurrien Timber, with the club hopeful of including the defender in their squad for their friendly away to FC Nurnberg on Thursday.
Timber has completed his medical ahead of his Ksh6.9 billion transfer from Ajax and the paperwork is being finalised on a long-term contract.
The Gunners will pay Ksh6.1 billion up front for Timber, with the remainder of the fee made up in performance-related add-ons.
Timber is being signed as a right-back – a role that was predominantly fulfilled by Ben White last season – but can also play at centre-back, and has previously attracted interest from Manchester United.