Arsenal confirm signing of Rice

Arsenal have confirmed the signing of England midfielder Declan Rice from West Ham for £100m plus £5m in add-ons.

The Gunners’ announcement comes after the 24-year-old issued an open letter to Hammers fans saying how ‘tough’ a decision it had been to leave the club.

Rice has signed a five-year contract with Arsenal in a deal which has the option of a further year.

“I’ve been looking at Arsenal over the last couple of seasons and the trajectory they’ve been on,” he said.

“Not last season but the season before, they [only] finished fifth, but you could see the style of play Mikel was implementing.

“Last season was an outstanding season, blowing pretty much every team out of the water with the exception of Manchester City.”