Declan Rice will undergo a medical on Friday ahead of his record transfer from West Ham to Arsenal.

The Gunners have agreed to pay the bulk of the £105million fee – a record for a British player – in instalments by the summer of 2025.

Rice's last act as a West Ham player was to lead the Premier League side to Conference League glory

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Rice’s last act as a West Ham player was to lead the Premier League side to Conference League gloryCredit: Getty

England midfielder Rice has already agreed personal terms with the Gunners after rejecting interest from Manchester City.

The Premier League champions had viewed Rice as a replacement for Ilkay Gundogan, but decided West Ham were asking for too much and left Arsenal in pole position.

The London rivals had been haggling over the fee despite personal terms being sorted, but now an agreement has finally been reached.

Rice has previously talked about the desire to compete for top honours and playing Champions League football, with his last act captaining West Ham to glory in the Conference League final last season.

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Shortly after that game in June, Hammers chairman David Sullivan confirmed Rice would not be at West Ham when the new season began.

“It’s not something we want to happen. We offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago. He turned it down.

“It cost him £10million to stay at West Ham in that time (in lost wages). And he wants to go.

“You can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to be there.”

Rice will be the most expensive English player when he signs for Arsenal

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Rice will be the most expensive English player when he signs for ArsenalCredit: Getty

Rice’s fee surpasses the £100m City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in 2021, while Real Madrid signed fellow England international Jude Bellingham for an initial fee of £88.5m. However, he could end up being more expensive with add-ons taking it to a possible £115m.

Enzo Fernandez is currently the most expensive transfer in British history, with Chelsea paying Benfica just under £107m for the midfielder last season.

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Rice will follow Kai Havertz through the Emirates door where they will form a new look attack alongside Martin Odegaard.

Romeo Lavia of Southampton and Ajax defender Jurrien Timber have also been linked with summer moves.

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