It’s been widely reported that Declan Rice’s move to Arsenal was for £100m plus £5m in add-ons, but what are the conditions on those add-ons?
After weeks of negotiations, Arsenal and West Ham United eventually agreed on a £100m guaranteed fee for the transfer of Declan Rice, to be paid over 24 months in three instalments.
But on top of that, it was also repeatedly mentioned in reports on the deal that Arsenal could owe up to £5m in additional add-ons.
According to Kaveh Solhekol, these add-ons will be paid depending on Arsenal’s consistent qualification for the Champions League.
Every time Arsenal qualify for the Champions League, with Rice starting at least 60% of the games, the Gunners will owe West Ham £1m.
This is capped at a maximum of five, hence the potential total of £5m.
Those add-ons seem like they would suit both parties. For West Ham, it’s a bit of extra money over the next five or so years, assuming Arsenal can qualify.
For Arsenal, every year that they make it into the Champions League they’ll have additional funding to spend on the add-ons anyway.
If Rice is a regular starter for the Gunners and helps Mikel Arteta’s side into the Champions League every season, that will be worth an extra £1m at the end of the campaign.
If he isn’t a starter or Arsenal don’t qualify, they obviously won’t owe the money.
It’s the £100m guaranteed part of the fee that’s inevitably going to put a bit of expectation and pressure on Rice’s shoulders, but he’s dealt with those sorts of expectations before.
As captain of West Ham and a regular for the England national team on the biggest stages, Rice rarely seems to wilt in the face of a challenge.