Arsenal are close to smashing their club-record transfer fee with the $108m deal for West Ham midfielder Declan Rice.

The 24-year-old defensive midfielder was celebrating his side’s UEFA Conference League victory last week at a trophy parade in East London which is expected to be the last time the England international is spotted wearing the famous claret and blue colors of West Ham.

Arsenal set to clinch signing of Rice

According to Jacob Steinberg in the Guardian, West Ham have asked for $108m plus add-ons for their star asset after accepting they will lose Rice this summer which will easily surpass the record $90m Arsenal spent in 2019 on flop Nicholas Pepe who is expected to be offloaded this summer.

This is not likely to put Arsenal off making moves for other central midfielders, however, with Ilkay Gundogan and Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo also being lined up by manager Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal were expected to be rivaled by Bayern Munich for the signature of Ric. However, sources believe the Bavarians have cooled their interest over the last few days leaving the door open for Rice to move to North London.