West Ham sign deal to sell Rice to Arsenal

West Ham sign deal to sell Rice to Arsenal

West Ham signed the paperwork for the £105m sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal on Friday; one Hammers insider told Sky Sports News: "I've never known anything like this saga"; Gunners set to announce deal before leaving for US tour on Sunday

West Ham have now signed the deal to sell captain Declan Rice after finally receiving paperwork from Arsenal.




The transfer was agreed eight days ago and the Hammers were becoming increasingly frustrated by the delay to complete the deal.




One insider told Sky Sports News: "I've never known anything like this saga".

However, West Ham have now signed to deal to sell Rice to Arsenal, who are set to announce their club-record signing before heading to the US for a pre-season tour on Sunday.




The hold-up was being caused by delays with the paperwork being drawn up by Arsenal's lawyers.

As far as West Ham were aware, Rice had passed his Gunners medical and had been training regularly while on holiday in Portugal.

The deal is broken down into an initial payment of £100m with £5m in add-ons and will eclipse Arsenal's previous record purchase, which is currently Nicolas Pepe from Lille for £72m in 2019.

Rice's signing will be just short of the British transfer record, which was set by Chelsea when they paid Benfica £106.8m for Enzo Fernandez in January.




The Gunners have paid Ajax £34m up front for Timber, with the remainder of the fee made up in performance-related add-ons.




Timber has been 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.