Declan Rice didn't cost Arsenal what you think he did: Why the signing of the season is cost-effective, too

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice cost a club-record £105 million when he joined from West Ham United last summer – but he might actually work out to be cheaper in the long-run than fans thought.

Rice has been a huge hit at the Emirates Stadium, spearheading the Gunners' title assault and being one of the standout players in his position in the world this term. With six strikes in the league, too, he's chipping in unexpectedly with goals – while Rice has reinvented himself to become a set-piece specialist, too.

Yet Arsenal fans might be even more thrilled to learn that in the long run, the England international is even better value for money than they realised. 

Arsenal paid a lot of money for Declan Rice – but the deal was frontloaded

You may remember the saga over the signing of Declan Rice. To sum up: Arsenal registered their interest, West Ham said no. Manchester City got involved, Arsenal upped the ante and eventually Rice got done.

But not before an unusual period in which a deal had been accepted for the Irons captain without a structure laid out. Arsenal wanted to pay for Rice over five years, while West Ham wanted all £100m of the money by this summer. In the end, a deal was agreed in which Arsenal would pay for the player in three instalments. 

With £5m set aside for add-ons, the terms of the deal are simple: £33m last summer, another £33m this, and a final instalment due next summer. 

Arsenal will enter this summer having paid two-thirds of their biggest transfer, with just one more to go. Rice will be just 26 when his deal is fully paid off: 2026 isn't far away at all, and the entire transfer fee will be history by then.

When compared to other high-profile big moves that have been strung out over longer timeframes, Arsenal are almost done with the Rice payments altogether, incredibly. While they have paid more upfront, they've made sure that the deal is cheaper in the long run, meaning that there isn't the pressure to keep committing money out for this deal across the length of Rice's contract: in fact, Arsenal could use the money saved on the last two years of Rice's deal to offer him a bumper new contract and keep him at the Emirates Stadium for his prime beyond the age of 27.

Committing so much capital no doubt altered the transfer plans of last summer – but with the Gunners riding high in the league, that's a distant memory, now. With many claiming that the No.41 is the signing of the season, he might just have been a financially shrewd one when it comes to the future, too. 

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