Declan Rice departs West Ham United

Bazshuayi

Hudson Odoi and Scott in with Downes to Southampton won't affect the Rice money much

MrsGrey

News websites also saying the medical was passed.

alderz

Hudson-Odoi would be a pretty exciting signing IMO. Can play four positions, has a lot of pace, and would be one for now and the future too.

PrestonHammer

Rice doing part of his medical and then going on holiday and doing the rest when he gets back makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

mike

PrestonHammer said:

Rice doing part of his medical and then going on holiday and doing the rest when he gets back makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

No it doesn't, this is being so ridiculously drawn out.

EXETERHAMMER

I wpuld imagine the Arsenal fans are just as frustrated

Expat_Hammer

Maybe the gooners haven't found enough loose change down all of the settees

thornburyiron

According to Sky Arsenal’s lawyers are going through the wording of the deal before it’s signed but they hope to have completed it by Sunday.

alderz

I don’t understand why this is taking so long.

Fortuneseeker

thorn, I note they haven't actually stipulated on which Sunday!

Hamstew

Just leave already

Ravel49

claretandbluesky

I went onto the Southampton forum to see what their views were regard JWP, it was good to see a knowledgeable bunch of fans. One poster suggested in colourful terms that Arsenal had paid too much, this was the response.

'He's a monster of a player. He's gonna give Arsenal that power that Viera gave them. Massive hole for West Ham to fill.'

'Rice is awesome and playing in a better team I think you’ll see the aspects of his game that is under utilised at West Ham come to the fore.'

'Rice is fantastic. I'd argue England's best player. In old school language, he is "engine room" but so much better than that. God knows if they are paying over the odds, but this is a brilliant player.'

MIAHammer

Are we there yet?

OutcastLondoner

How is this deal not done yet?

Fortuneseeker

MIAHammer said:

Are we there yet?

That brings back memories of taking my children on holiday. 😁

OldCastleSwift

OutcastLondoner said:

How is this deal not done yet?

I read again this morning that the medical was completed at the weekend, so I honestly don't know what the hold up is. I mean, it's saving Arsenal £200k p/w I guess, so I can see why they're in no hurry, but I want our business to get going.

Hamstew

The only good thing about it taking this long is I genuinely have zero feeling about this transfer anymore. I'd completely forgotten about it

OldCastleSwift

Sky now reporting that we're growing 'increasingly frustrated' with the delay in this deal. Maybe Sullivan's been on the phone to give Arsenal a public hurry up.

He'd have a point though; eight days since the deal was agreed, and the medical was completed over the weekend. Are Arsenal playing silly buggers and deliberately delaying the payment? This isn't the first transfer in football history so I can't believe the lawyers are looking at anything they haven't seen before.

Lukerz

Maybe Dec has had a change of heart & needs a few days to mull it over.

jay_in_cpt

This is only me , nothing more , but if our owners were as wealthy as some owners in the PL , it would have been great to have said to Arsenal sorry you’ve taken too long, the deal is off, It’s not what I want, because it’s inevitable it’s time to move on, but to treat Arsenal a lesson it would have been fun to see happen…( Not that we have a real clue to what is actually going on)…
This is only me going on in my crazy mind and nothing more, just how I feel about it all…
It needs to be over with…
We had Rice, it’s now chips 🍟

IronHerb

Wouldn't you go through a Sullivan contract with a fine tooth comb before handing him £100m? ⚒

OldCastleSwift

Back to alderz's point of a couple of weeks ago; we need to give them a deadline, IMO. Sign it off on Friday or the deal's off.

We can't let this drag into next week. It appears to be seriously impacting our ability to bring anyone in.

Lukerz

What genuinely is the delay? There was a rumour on KUMB the medical showed issues with his knee. Now he hasn’t signed & is training on his own abroad. Could it be true?

alderz

Lukerz said:

What genuinely is the delay? There was a rumour on KUMB the medical showed issues with his knee. Now he hasn’t signed & is training on his own abroad. Could it be true?

I thought about the training abroad thing, but he is obviously still on his break as he had international duty after the season, so I don’t think much can be read into that tbh.

Expat_Hammer

One of the gooners where I work said that they may have to sell before being able to finalise everything.

Hamstew

No idea but my bet is they can't actually afford him.

OldCastleSwift

Lukerz said:

What genuinely is the delay? There was a rumour on KUMB the medical showed issues with his knee. Now he hasn’t signed & is training on his own abroad. Could it be true?

Could be true, but I doubt it. Much more likely that Arsenal haven't yet got the cash required to drop £33m into Sullivan's back pocket.

Some reports that Forest are going for Sangare, who has been a lot of people's pick for our midfield for a couple of summers now. If our business is further delayed and we start missing out on players like him, it doesn't set a good foundation for next season.

steve

Bridging loan

Hamstew

I feel like he has to go now regardless. If Arsenal can't get it done just accept City's lower offer. From memory their deal was most of the cash upfront?