Arsenal have made a third and improved bid for West Ham captain Declan Rice that is worth £105million.
The offer comprises an initial fee of £100m and a further £5m in add-ons, which would make Rice the most expensive British player in Premier League history.
The record was previously held by Jack Grealish, who left Aston Villa for Manchester City for £100m in 2021.
The Gunners have already had two offers turned down for Rice, while Manchester City have had one rejected. City’s offer of a £90m package, with £10m of it paid in add-ons, was rebuffed by West Ham on Tuesday morning.
Rice has indicated a preference to move to Arsenal this summer, where he would be a key part of Mikel Arteta’s project.
The chance to play for Pep Guardiola’s Treble winners will be attractive, though, and City are in the market for new midfielders after captain Ilkay Gundogan joined Barcelona for free.
City have already signed Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic as part of a deal that could eventually be worth £30m.
Signing Rice is part of a big recruitment drive by Arsenal this summer and they are also close to wrapping up a £65m deal for Chelsea forward Kai Havertz.
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The German underwent a medical in Spain, where he is on holiday, over the weekend and is set to sign a long-term deal with the Gunners. Havertz will wear the No29 shirt, as he did at Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen.
Arsenal are also working on completing a deal for Ajax defender Jurrien Timber after having an opening offer of £30m rejected. Talks are ongoing between the clubs with the hope being that a fee can be agreed at around £40m.
Timber is excited by the prospect of working under Arteta and sources in the Netherlands state that personal terms have been agreed in principle. Timber will offer competition for Arsenal at right-back and in the heart of defence.
