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Declan Rice is closer to becoming an Arsenal player.
The West Ham captain lifted the Europa Conference League trophy last week, after which owner David Sullivan made it clear that he could leave the club provided that the right offer came in for him.
And, although there are a host of clubs interested in signing the 24 year old, Arsenal have been working on a deal for months to bring him to the Emirates, and he wants to join them.
It will take a club record fee to acquire him, though, with talks of an initial £92 million, plus an additional £10 million if the Gunners win the Premier League or Champions League with Rice in the team.
Talks between the two clubs are reported to be progressing smoothly, with Arsenal looking to strike an early agreement. They want Rice available for pre-season and they also want to move on to other transfer targets.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.