Declan Rice’s transfer to Arsenal is yet to be confirmed but it seems as if some of the Gunners players are already becoming familiar with the midfielder as per their Instagram activity
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Reaction to Declan Rice signing for Arsenal
Declan Rice has uploaded a picture to Instagram for the first time this month - and within minutes, the snap was liked by Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz.
Rice is expected to be announced as the Gunners latest and most expensive addition in the coming days, but for whatever reason there has been no official confirmation of the move just yet. That hasn’t stopped him from posting his own content however, as the England ace uploaded a series of pictures that show him keeping his fitness up in the pre-season.
The 24-year-old can be seen completing various workouts and has tagged ‘The Campus’, believed to be a training base in Portugal. The fact that both Saka and Havertz liked the picture within minutes of it being set live seems to suggest Rice’s move to Arsenal is imminent.
Some could argue the fact that Rice and Saka are also England colleagues means it is nothing more than a friendly like, but Havertz also engaging with the picture feels like a clear sign the two will soon be team-mates at the Emirates.
Gunners fans are growing impatient as they wait for the announcement declaring Rice an Arsenal player, but it is believed that West Ham are waiting for lawyers to finalise the wording in the contract before giving their midfielder the green light to depart.
The basics of the transfer were agreed all the way back on June 28. It is both hoped and widely believed that everything will be sorted and announced in time for Rice to travel to the USA with his new Arsenal team-mates.
Declan Rice’s Instagram post was liked by both Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz (
Image:
@declanrice/Instagram)
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The Gunners jet off on Sunday, July 16 which of course means an announcement will have to come at some point this week. The same goes for Jurrien Timber, who is on the cusp of his move from Dutch giants Ajax being confirmed.
Timber, 22, was the subject of a social media flurry earlier on this week when his brother took to Instagram to document the defender’s goodbye party. One image showed a board bearing the sight of Timber donning an Arsenal kit.
As for Rice, his move, when it is eventually confirmed, will see him become the most expensive British player of all-time as Arsenal fork out £105million inlcuding £5m worth of add-ons to bring him to north London.
He will also become the second-most expensive Premier League player in the history of the league, behind only Chelsea’s £107m man Enzo Fernandes.
For those hoping to get his name on the back of the new Arsenal home strip, recent rumours have suggested Rice will stick with the same squad number he had at West Ham - 41.
“‘Rice 41’ has a nice ring to it and I’ve grown up playing in it,” he told Gary Neville during an episode of the Overlap last year. “I’m a bit superstitious about things like that. I don’t know whether if I change to a new number, it would hamper my performance! I don’t know! I just think sometimes about a couple of things like that.”
