So, the big transfer saga is in full swing and, despite the knowledge that Arsenal have to outbid moneybags Manchester City, the Gunners have gone all out with a massive bid that would break the English transfer record set when Man City bought Jack Grealish.
Of course, the transfer guru Fabrizi Romano has all the inside details, and this is what revealed this morning in his CaughtOffside column……
The big news to start with is Arsenal and Declan Rice. As expected, the Gunners have submitted a third bid for the West Ham United captain, offering £100m plus £5m in add-ons on Tuesday night. Arsenal really hope to get it done, Mikel Arteta is doing his best along with Edu. It’s also up to Manchester City now, let’s see if they bid again or leave the race.
There will still be things to clarify, but Arsenal are very confident. It’s important to clarify that West Ham don’t have a precise price tag, but it’s the structure of the deal and payment terms that are important for West Ham. Arsenal feel small changes to the £105m bid can make it happen.
So, perhaps it is now the done deal we are hoping for, with just a couple of small adjustments, but I have a feeling that West Ham will string things along for a bit longer to see if Man City (or even Man United?) decide that they believe Rice is worth breaking records for.
So, Arsenal have taken the big step. Can Arsenal fans sit quietly and patiently and wait for the final end-game?
I think we would like to get it over with now, one way or the other!
COYG!
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Two words:
“Too much”
Well Arteta wants him, so you better tell him, he cant have him and to get someone he doesn’t want.
More than fair offer. KSE could help with the structuring, any more, I think we should walk.
Nothing to add to what PAT says, save that DAN Smith might well start a Gooner prediction league on how many MORE Rice articles will appear on JA before Rice moves to whichever club WHU will finally agree a deal .
My guess is at least five daily until its over. Now, do I hear six? Six we have! Do I hear seven? And so the auction continues!
Meanwhile my article on Kroenke sent in two days ago has still not appeared. Why not.? Ask Rice!
😂
Jon and his writings
I look forward to reading your articles on justarsenal
105m pounds on a Central midfielder makes no sense to me.
I’d walk away now. £80m was too much and this is a joke for £105m when they were nearly relegated and just about Won Conference League, which is a great achievement don’t get me wrong BUT Rice isn’t that good tbh, West Ham have a few decent players around him too, he didn’t win that on his own.
And were going to let Party and Xhaha leave for under £40m for both!!!
Only other alternative is that WestHam are going to go buy Balogun off us but I’d rather give him a go and let Eddie go!! Would Eddie do what Flo did in France? I doubt it….
Why have I got a bad feeling this window is going to be terrible. Kia Havertz was the 1st sign we knew this has a failure window all over it esp for £65m…. we always pay over the market value.
2 steps forward and 4back especially since we have gave away our whole midfield and still have Elneny here along with Jorginho.
Not signing an out and out goal scorer is going to hurt us. Jesus isn’t that pedigree of a player, he’s more suited to the wings and getting in behind.
Hope I’m wrong but wrong targets are being targeted imo.
Onana could easily come in, save us a load of money instead of Rice, Kia is possibly Xhakas replacement so why waste £105m is beyond me on one player.
I do think that it’s more than just spending £105 million on a player worth about £50-60 million.
I feel like Arsenal are trying to make a statement of “We are back, we are here and mean business. We won’t be a soft touch any more.”.
It’s a lot of money but it is sending out a real message..
Just heard City have pulled out and will not be making any further bids.
Can you please tell us all where and how you heard this good news?
Talksport, Sky and BBC all reporting this news.
I was listening to Simon Jordan when Jim White interrupted him with the news, I checked and other outlets also confirmed.
Fabrizio Romano also confirmed it.
Jon, I have seen it on Sky news and Daily Mail. Furthermore, Daily Mail reports that Declan Rice is going to ask West Ham to accept Arsenal’s bid.
Man City have made a good decision. We could sign two high-profile homegrown players with £105m
Maybe West Ham and Man City worked together to prevent Arsenal from leading the league again. What if Rice gets injured or flops?
There’s still a chance to pull out from the deal. I hope Arsenal could check other homegrown midfielders, such as Yunus Musah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kalvin Phillips and Conor Gallagher
come on. to get two third tire players instead of one top player that will improve us is ludicrous. this will rally be a wast of money.
*really be
I think Rice isn’t better than those players
Rice is a dynamo, works hard 90 minutes, never gets injured, has a physical presence, and leadership, not lose the ball. He is light years ahead of those you mentioned. Loftus-Cheek and Conor Gallagher are third-tire players, Phillips is a nice player during the 20 games a season is able to play, and Guardiola thought he is unprofessional.
Stop the hype. Rice is not better than Thomas Partey.
It makes zero sense. I would rather pay 130m pounds on Victor Osimhen than pay 105m pounds on Rice.
70m pounds could have gotten us Camavinga from Real Madrid
Gai, I tell you I really like RLavia, Youssouf Fofana, SBerge, Kalvin Philips etc but I think DRice has versatility in him, his injury record also good and is England international. Probably Arteta sees what we don’t know. He was criticised for signing Ramsdale and Odegard when he did. I kind of feel DRice will be worth it. But I hope he won’t be under huge pressure to deliver because of how much he cost.
“and is England international” and so what? So we should pay 105m pounds on him simply because he is England international? Is that the criteria for success now?
GAI, After a few months of sanity, I see you’re now back to your absurd self. You should check Declan’s PROVEN stats for club and country over past seasons then compare them with the players you just named before spouting this BS. It is an insult to compare Rice to RLC, Gallagher, and Philips leave alone thinking he’s inferior. I prefer sense over emotion. Guess it’s time to start ignoring your posts again.
You’re actually saying total rubbish can’t imagine putting loftus-cheek in the mix of players Arsenal should consider signing.
I am honestly triggered to respond to almost every single comment you make on this site, despite knowing better. Its as if you list players without considering their quality or what they can do/have done on the pitch. none of the players mentioned above have the quality or the characteristics of Rice (the closest is Kalvin) and tbh i would prefer Jorginho starting ahead of all 4 you mention above, each for different reasons. cheaper doesnt mean getting a good deal, it means risking less. I would rather overpay for high quality than underpay for worse than what i already have. That being said, if a good deal for one of our other REAL targets such as caicedo could be reached, i would pull out of the Rice deal in an instant, but i would certainly not compromise for far lesser players. On another note, Caught Offside column of Fabrizio states that Partey is most likely staying as well.
How well do you know Caicedo? I find it bizzare when people say Caicedo is way better than Declan Rice. Same Rice who has been in the EPL for many years and Caicedo whose name we’ve never heard until lately? Aside caicedos physique, there’s nothing spectacular about him. Rice is far much better. We are lambasting Rice’s Deal because he is overpriced. Yes! The Market is highly inflated and we can’t blame WestHam for holding us to ransom. No player in the world is worth £100m in my opinion. Even Wenger predicted same issue of inflation some years back and now we all can see it
Strongly agreed!!!
Wise men stay away, fools rush in.
Are we expecting EPL title within this 2 years?
Fabrizio just confirmed on twitter that Man City will not counter or bid again for Rice, all is left for Arsenal W/Ham is to negotiate the payment structure.
Big investment hopefully it works out pretty well and Arteta is getting all the financial backup most Gunners wished for, failure won’t be an excuse
Your post beat my question above by a minute. THANKS for saying what and where you saw this news.
Though I have to wonder HOW Fabrizio can know rthis for certain. Club are well known for not telling the truth, at times when it may suit them not to.
Fabrizio is mostly 99% spot on, the most reliable
Rice was never Cities No1 target.
But they did bid 90mil, for a fact he was their target. Probably they didn’t want to go through the extremes to have him.
He was never their No1 target, thats why they put a bid in that they did. If you understand transfers, you would know how it works. If they bought Rice, they couldn’t get their target.
This £105 million Rice tag war is a massive Psychological flexing exercise for us as a club. It might seem that we are over paying but it is a massive statement we arw trying to send. We are now back and willing to compete On and Off the field.
I was just thinking last night. This Rice transfers must be more than your average transfers to Arsenal / Arteta and the board.
I think it’s a psychological transfer, going up against big bully (Man City) on the field and now challenging them on these massive transfers must be the mind game / mental flexing we are trying to instill into our players and fanbase. We are trying to show that we are now willing to stand up and be counted. No more participation trophies or just making up numbers in going for the Top trophies and Transfers.
I think Arsenal now want to be taken seriously once again. We want to show that we are confronting our fragility on and off the pitch against the other so called Top team. We have been wimping and shying away every time our rivals enter a bidding war with us. Our rivals all know that Arsenal will just give up and walk away with our tail right between our legs
But with this Rice transfer it seems like the club has decided to stand up and stop being the weeping boys.
It’s a massive psychological huddle we are trying to clear here.
That’s how I see it..
Strongly agree, this one jerk the dial
Perfectly good theory Goonster
I don’t agree with this “psychological flexing” idea. The issue at the end of the day is whether or not your team performs. Clearly Arsenal have wanted for some time and WH were aware and knew they could set a very high fee.
It’s a ridiculous fee but we will now need to see if he is able to justify it.
Makes sense them pulling out given their need for the player was nowhere near as great as ours and they will probably turn to another target much cheaper btw.
However I’m questioning whether their interest was as strong as reported? I mean they have previous history of making rivals over extend themselves on transfer targets I’m thinking of them going head to head with Man Utd for Fred Maguire and Alexis Sanchez or with Chelsea for Jorginho and Cuchurella. 🤔
Absolute joke, well and truly getting ripped off by a relegation threatened team that won tier 3 of European competion.
He is a good player but should’ve walked away long time ago. You could get two really good players with that money.
Who is Rice
The catch all term would be a deep lying play maker, probably.
During his time and West Ham and for England he’s generally played in a double pivot in a 4 2 3 1 or as the deepest player in a midfield three.
His principal responsibility out of position is providing his defense with an extra layer of protection, When his side has the ball, he’s the first port of call when building attacks, either by his passing or ball carrying abilities.
Players in this mould are very hard to find that’s why Arsenal tabled a record bid in the region of £105 mill, eager to sign the young Englishman on a long term deal this summer.
Man city take time to wean themselves from Fernandinho, Rodri struggles at first to filled his shoes.
Casemiro, another player of this ilk, has been absolutely transformative for Man United in the last campaign and its little surprise Leeds and Leicester downfalls coincided with the sale of Kalvin Phillips and and Wilfred Niddi list of forms respectively.
Defensive midfielders tie the team together, they are the oil in the cogs and the bringers of stability, it’s no wonder one of Arsenal most important player is the world class Thomas Partey
Sometimes you just have to take a gamble and see how it works. Maybe this transfer is about quality rather than quantity. I hope Declan Rice succeds because he looks already like a future captain in the making and carries no baggage around him IMHO.
Olivia dunham
This is the signing that inspire confidence.
Leicester didn’t sell ndidi – he’s still there
Davi
Thanks mate, It should have read ‘The sale of Kelvin Phillips and Wilfred Ndidi lost of form respectively ‘
So in a nut shell Wilfred Ndidi lost of form could well be responsible for Leicester city relegation, such is the importance of a defensive midfielder
Relax, Rice wants Arsenal and Arsenal want Rice. Move on to the next transfer.
BBC Sport has confirmed that City have dropped out of this.
There should be no further negotiations. Arsenal must simply buy two other midfielders with that cash. It’s already the biggest rip off at that price for one player. Arsenal needs at least two quality players in each position on the field. When Rice gets injured, who is that quality midfielder to replace him. We must not forget last season how Arsenal defense collapse when Saliba got injured. The rest is history, Arsenal painfully lost the premier league title race. Arsenal must walk away from this West ham saga and get the best other targets available before they are taken by other clubs. Remember the Vlahovic deal.
Honestly, I don’t quite get this Rice madness. £100M + ???
Arteta is determined to waste the scarce resources.
Why is he not looking else where for an alternative?
Why does it have to be Rice?
Get Onana from Everton and lavia from Sonton.
These players are better and cheaper than rice individually.
The fact that an average player come with a ridiculous price tag doesn’t mean we must go all out for him.
neither of them is better than Rice and i think that 40+ for lavia is as ridiculous as the 100+ for rice. English tax is starting to become EPL experience tax as well. 70 for caicedo sounds much more reasonable, or even looking at other leagues to avoid overspending. Onana doesnt have a pricetag, however if you want to challenge you need to go for top notch players and onana isnt one.
Scarce resources????
It seems the money being invested by the owner is never ending, with four top players being (reportedly) chased that would see a spend of over £200,000,000 in this window alone.
If Rice helps us to win the PL and we progress to the knockout stages of the CL, that’s his transfer fee paid for in one season.
We really don’t need to transfer anyone out who doesn’t want to stay (that would be Nelson, Xhaka and Balogun gone) and we will have a squad able to challenge ANYONE in the PL and across europe… in my opinion.
Think long term, not just the immediate effect.
This was a reply to Mrcools post above.
Because that’s who the manager wants – simple as that.
When I first saw this ridiculous offer lastnight ,thought sleep was in my eyes and quickly went back to sleep.
This is our Van-Dijk moment.
Not if we sell Partey it aint.
I doubt City will now bid for Rice since the asking price of Rice is being met by Arsenal so WHU cannot refuse it and also because Rice wants to play for Arsenal. All signs point to Rice playing for Arsenal next season.
Is Rice worth the money probably not but he doesn’t set the price so let’s forget the fee and think more about the player we could get. One of the best out there and he wants to join us and not going somewhere else just so he can get a £1000 more in his wage packet, and let’s be honest whether or not it’s 105mil or 50mil it’s like monopoly money anyway to normal supporters and if we pick up a trophy next season it will be money we’ll spent
Perry, spot on. People go on about how other players are cheaper, but what seem to ignore is that Arteta doesn’t want those other players, he wants Rice.
I for one have always believed that Rice isn’t worth this price and bidding war, but since Arteta as the coach wants him this more, going as far as breaking the club’s transfer record for Rice, and since the board is also giving him all the support, I will only pray and wish Declan Rice succeeds and proves himself as a big buy. Welcome to Arsenal
And the most interesting thing about this deal is that Rice have always wanted only Arsenal move. So whatever happens after his signing, am always going to love him for that. He loves Arsenal
He loves London.
Arsenal using F-You money to blow wait for it City out of the water, we ain’t messing around. Still, one problem remains however as they want it paid over a one-year period from one window to the next. We’ll probably get them to agree to a three or four-year period, that’ll be the aim
Like it or not, Arsenal are starting to act like a big club again. Back here in Australia I’m going through all the different outlets. BBC, Sky, Talksport, and even the Football Terrace. That Terry character does receive his sources through David Ornstein and company. Terry is having a go at those bantering Arsenal for overpaying for Rice. I think people are pissed that Rice wanted Arsenal from day one. Apparently the reason why City pulled out. Got to hand it to Edu. It’s not finished yet. I would hate to lose Partey. I loathe this time of the season. Rumours galore, fake media left, right and centre. Still need more players coming in. Need to get serious and start challenging on all fronts. No more rebuilding excuses. Arteta has now spent seven hundred million big bickies on players
The natives are getting restless PJ!!
Salty rival supporters are now using the card that Declan Rice is an overpriced Englishman. One hundred million is what West Ham owner wanted, even though David Moyse said in January that Rice was worth 120 million, but it’s been reported that Rice has asked the club to allow him to go to Arsenal now that the magic figure has been achieved. Good now that certain players want to come to Arsenal. Wasn’t that what people have been bitching about for years. Just need to see this guy in an jersey. This could be a sign for more to come
£105m for any defensive midfielder is is crazy money and a huge risk when you add in the massive salary and presumably long term contract. WHU offered him £200k a week so it has to be at least that. I just hope it works out. Tbh the Havertz deal worries me more!!
It’s also been reported the the Spuds are to sign Maddison for £40m which seems a bit more realistic – fine player, why would he go there? Maybe it’s another rumour?
West Ham always wanted 120M for Rice. I think maybe Arteta called Pep for help. Put in similar bid and opt out once Arsenal upped the next bid. At least West Ham will know that’s the limit for Man City. Considering the footballing talent, human presence and the massive marketing, 105M should be last price. Maybe an improvement on the payment terms. Other than that, Arsenal should walk away.
Impressive bid from our dear Arsenal FC. Arteta/Edu seem to be going for high quality players regardless of the cost rather than players that just make up the numbers (remember Lokonga).
Rice has what it takes to make an immediate positive impact to our winning trophies ambition.
It’s up to WHU to accept the bid.