Online rumours suggesting that Arsenal or West Ham United have walked away from the protracted Declan Rice deal are "not correct", claims transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.
Arsenal transfer news – What's the latest on Declan Rice?
The Gunners have been perhaps the biggest shock of the transfer window so far this year, with the Premier League runners-up coming out swinging in the market and displaying a willingness to spend not often associated with the north Londoners.
A £65m deal to secure the services of German international Kai Havertz was completed last month, with a £40m deal for Ajax's Jurrien Timber incredibly close to being finalised as well.
However, the big one, and the first proper transfer saga of the summer so far, has been the deal to sign West Ham's captain Rice for a reported fee of £105m, a new transfer record for a British player.
While the deal is said to be almost complete, the lack of movement over the last few days may have left Arsenal fans a little nervous, especially given the club's recent record with securing the signature of their first-choice targets.
However, fans of the north London club shouldn't be too worried as online rumours suggesting that talks have broken down and the clubs have walked away are false, per Fabrizio Romano.
He explained the situation on his YouTube channel, saying:
“What I can say guys is this is really close. Trust me, really, really close for Declan Rice to Arsenal."
"Arsenal and West Ham are speaking about the payment terms, so the rumours circulating today on social media about Arsenal or West Ham walking away from the deal at the moment I am told this is not correct while I am speaking.
"But the negotiation is very advanced it's really at the final bits they are discussing the final points of this story, the medical has not been booked yet, but it will happen in the days if everything goes to plan."
How do players cope with such significant price tags?
With the immense amount of money in the modern game and transfer records broken seemingly on a yearly basis, it can be easy to forget that these players being bought and sold for astronomical sums are still human and are sometimes deeply affected by their own perceived value.
It can be an awful lot of pressure to be worth tens of millions and even more so if you're responsible for breaking a club's longstanding transfer record, so much so that players in the past have described the negative impact such expectation had on their careers, with Arsenal new-boy Havertz telling the Guardian how it impacted him at Chelsea:
"For me, the price was a big thing. I was Chelsea's most expensive player. That brings pressure because people think you are Messi.
"I was still 20, 21. People don't see that; they see the price, so you have to be great from day one. You can feel it, the tension. You read it, hear it."
That said, where some players seem unable to cope with the added expectations and pressure that come with the tag of 'most expensive x', others relish that added pressure.
Jack Grealish became the most expensive British footballer of all time when he made his move to Manchester City in 2021 after the club paid his £100m release clause to get him out of Aston Villa, but that didn't seem to bother the then 25-year-old as he told the Guardian:
"I take it as a compliment. I actually like it [being Britain's most expensive signing], I think it is a good tag to have.
"I think when you see a club paying that much for a player it means they trust and value you highly and see so much potential there to work with. I see it as a good thing."
With Rice set to cost £5m more than his England teammate, it remains to be seen which camp he finds himself in, loving or hating the new record he'll hold.
