Rice announcement due but Hammers still waiting
By Sean Whetstone
Declan Rice is on the verge of completing his move to Arsenal which is expected within 24 hours.
Arsenal have promised they will return signed contracts today which was the last but one hurdle to complete the deal agreed two weeks ago.
HOWEVER, despite being a few hours behind GMT, Arsenal’s American owners still had not returned the signed contract to West Ham at 5pm which would releaseRice as a West Ham player.
Hammer Rice announcement due
The North London club need to wire West Ham the first instalment of £33.3m and when this happens the Hammers can release Rice’s player registration.
Rice will need to sign his contract with Arsenal simultaneously thought to be worth £250,000 per week on a long term contract.
Declan is in the Algarve carrying out fitness training with a personal trainer and is reported to have completed an announcement video with the North London club in advance.
It appears the prolonged saga is finally in its last hours and things are expected to move with an official announcement either today or tomorrow.
Arsenal fans have suggested that their club deliberately delayed the deal to make West Ham pay Rice’s wages while he finished his holiday but his current deal is worth less than £72,000 per week so that theory would hurt their new player more than the Hammers.
