Declan Rice: The £105m transfer who was rejected by Chelsea, made by West Ham, now ‘Arsenal ready’

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta does not usually hug opposition players — on May 22, 2022, he made an exception.

West Ham United lost 2-1 at home to Arsenal in a hard-fought game and Arteta walked up to Declan Rice. The pair then embraced. It was short and meant little at the time, with Chelsea long considered favourites for the midfielder’s signature. But 13 months on, that exchange looks like it laid the foundations for Arsenal’s successful pursuit of Rice.

The 24-year-old has become Arsenal’s club-record signing in a British-record deal worth £105million ($133m). It was their third offer that ended the bidding war between them and treble-winners Manchester City.

Arteta never spoke publicly about Rice, but he is said to be central to his vision for the team — and the manager has made it his mission to make the move happen.

After Chelsea’s interest waned in the past 12 months given their outlay elsewhere, Bayern Munich started the summer bidding, with City making late moves. But it is Arsenal and Arteta who have shown Rice the most love.

Rice, who has rejected three contract offers, had no desire to sign a new deal at West Ham. Had he accepted the £200,000-a-week offer, he would have been the highest-paid player in the club’s history. But Rice was candid when he made it clear he wanted to win trophies and play regularly in Europe’s most prestigious competition.

“One hundred per cent, I want to play in the Champions League,” he said on England duty. “For the last two or three years, I’ve been saying that. I’ve been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing. I see my friends here who are playing Champions League and for big trophies. You only get one career and at the end, you want to look back at what you’ve won and the biggest games you’ve played in. I really want to do that.”

manager David Moyes will be content, provided he is handed the money to allow him to reshape the squad and build on their Europa Conference League win. They have been linked with moves for Joao Palhinha of Fulham, Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes, Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott and Marseille midfielder Matteo Guendouzi.

“We promised Declan he could go,” Sullivan told talkSPORT. “He set his heart on going. You can’t ask for a man who has committed more to us this season. In due course, he has to get on and we have to get a replacement — or several replacements. It’s not something we want to happen. We offered him £200,000 per week 18 months ago. He turned it down. It’s cost him £10million to stay at West Ham in that time (in lost wages). And he wants to go.”

Despite Rice’s ambitions, it was always his intention to leave West Ham on amicable terms. He gave the club his word that he would not hand in a transfer request to force an exit.

If anything, speculation over his long-term future fuelled him to leave in the best way possible. He followed in the footsteps of Billy Bonds and Bobby Moore by becoming the third captain to lift a trophy in the club’s 128-year history. Rice has been criticised on social media by some sections of the fanbase for leaving, but he will be fondly remembered for his special night in Prague and for helping the club avoid relegation It is a move he deserves and he will thrive under the tutelage of Arteta.