Okay, so that might be a mild exaggeration. However, at the rate this Zeno’s Paradox of a transfer goes, we’ve almost overtaken the Moyesian tortoise. Remember way back when Moyes insisted that Rice would not be sold for anything less than £120m? With that in mind, it should come as no surprise then that West Ham have rejected our second offer, reportedly £75m plus £15m in add-ons as “too many installments”. Still, we’re inching closer.
West Ham’s position has, um, “evolved” considerably. After initially insisting on that £120m, fee, they are now “holding out” (The Guardian‘s words) for £100m. Their rejection of our most-recent £90m bid, however, seems based on more on the timing and scheduling of the payments rather than on the size of the fee itself. That “too many installments” line comes from the anonymous ExWHUEmployee source, who has been spot-on of late. The Hammers’ current position seems to have been reduced to them insisting on a larger up-front payment followed by a quicker series of payments rather than amortising the fee across the length of Rice’s new contract. In other words, they’re now negotiating from a weakened position.
That weakened position seems to have been undermined by Rice’s time on international duty during which he fraternised with Saka and Ramsdale and reiterated his desire to stay in London to play Champions League football. That leaves West Ham in a dilly of a pickle as there’s only one club he could be talking about there. For as much as we might want this saga to come to a quick conclusion, it seems as if time is on our side here. We’re currently looking at a chance of landing rice at a fee of some £90m, which, if my maths are correct (always a dicey premise), would mean we got him for 75% of the original demand. That would be some masterful negotiating. Even if the fee we agree on is £100m, that’s still 83% of what West Ham were insisting on when this whole saga started.
With news that they are now after Fulham’s João Palhinha and Bristol City’s Alex Scott, the writing really is on the wall here. Originally, we waited until West Ham won that Europa League Conference trophy. Then, we waited while Rice player for the Three Lions. Now, we may have to wait until West Ham finish talks with Fulham and Bristol City so that they can secure a replacement and depth for Rice. I posted yesterday about the possibility that we sign Rice before the weekend. While that might still be overly optimistic, this deal is starting to feel more and more like a fait accompli…
I hope your Zeno’s Paradox isn’t too clever by half. Achilles never catches the tortoise.
Of course, I don’t mean it literally – then again, though, even Zeno understood that this paradox was more of a mind-game than an actual description of reality.
WH was happy with a lower fee until the won their Euro silverware. Then they realized that Rice was seen to be valuable and that their supporters would now expect more from the club. That means spending more on a Rice replacement and also having more suitors coming to call.
This is only being kept from a typical Arsenal bidding disaster because Rice keeps saying (more or less) that he only wants Arsenal. But Mudryk said that as well.
Had WH not won the cup, they would have jumped at 70 to 80. Now they will be ecstatic at 100. Five years ago this was an unthinkable amount, but now the journeymen are getting 50 or more. If Mudryk does not star next year under his new manager, what will he be worth? Certainly, not what Chelsea paid.
West Ham have always quoted £ 100 million, so not sure where the ‘would have jumped at 70 to 80’ comes from. Although if there was a player or two thrown in the the £ 80 mil would come in to play.
Only one L in instalment
Confession time: I’m American. While I’m doing tolerably well at picking up British English, this is a new one to me. Thanks for the catch.
A free pass on American/British spelling for all our transatlantic Gooner friends 😉
Cheers! (or should I say thanks?).
He’s going to City. You mug
Evidence? The only talk of this has consisted of smoke & mirrors promoted by West Ham accounts trying to drive up the fee. I’m not ruling it out, and I know we have to keep an eye on that remorseless eatin’ machine.However, there just hasn’t been enough from the rumour mill to instill any real fear.
rice deal reminds of the mudruk to Chelsea saga.Im warried it won’t look alike
I feel quite the opposite, to be honest. Shakhtar Donetsk kept upping their expected fee, and we walked away once that fee exceeded what we were willing to pay. Caveat emptor – Mudryk fizzled after making the move (he’s still young and Chelsea are a right mess, he could still turn into something). Here, we’re looking at West Ham slow-walk this transfer but climbing down from their original position. I’m feeling cautiously optimistic.
Rice is not the only best holding mid in this planet earth, if WH are trying to play hard ball on him we then go for other options. instead of wasting time negotiating some thing we know we cant buy. we dont want another mudryk serger again, if we see that he is over priced then we leave him and look for cheaper option.
Panic spreads amongst the fearful….
Today’s news offers comfort and discomfort in almost equal measure. Man City signing Kovacic reduces their need for Rice somewhat; on the other hand, reports suggest that Gundogan may move to Barcelona and Chelsea may lose Kante to Saudi Arabia. City might then still be interested, and Chelsea, whose transfer strategy seems to consist of snatching our targets away at the last minute, could enter the chase as well.
It won’t happen that way.