LONDON: Arsenal have reportedly agreed a British record fee with West Ham for England midfielder Declan Rice.

The Gunners appear to have been successful with a third bid of £100m plus £5m in add-ons that would surpass the £100m that Manchester City paid two years ago for Jack Grealish.

Arsenal’s were nearly always in pole position to sign the Englishman.

Manchester City did rival Mikel Arteta’s side early this week, matching their previous bid of £90m but offering better payment terms, but Pep Guardiola’s side pulled out after Arsenal’s improved bid on Wednesday.

West Ham and Arsenal are now in the process of resolving payment terms.

Arsenal have also completed the signing of Germany forward Kai Havertz from Chelsea.

The 24-year-old has signed a long-term contract with the Gunners for a reported fee of £65million.

Havertz made 139 appearances for Chelsea following his move from Bayer Leverkusen in September 2020, scoring 32 goals and providing a further 15 assists.

He netted the only goal of the game as the Blues beat Manchester City to win the Champions League final under Thomas Tuchel’s guidance in 2021.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told the Arsenal club website; “Kai is a player of top quality.”

“He has great versatility and is an intelligent player. He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play.

“We welcome Kai and his family to Arsenal Football Club and we are all excited to start working with him when we start pre-season training soon.”

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