West Ham has turned down a second bid from Arsenal for Declan Rice even though it would guarantee them £75m plus £15m in add-ons.
Arsenal has made the Englishman their number one summer target as they bid to rebuild their squad from the midfielder, and he seems keen to make the transfer to the Emirates.
The Hammers have been open to the talks but warned earlier that it would take a record bid to make them release him, and they are staying true to their words.
Arsenal had initially tabled a bid worth £75m, but it was rejected, and they returned with the latest offer worth £90m, which is a record fee for both clubs.
However, The Athletic reveals the Hammers have turned it down and sent the Gunners back to the drawing board, which is a setback to their plans to end the saga early.
Having pulled out of the race for Moises Caicedo, who is now set to join Chelsea, Arsenal is expected to return with a better offer for Rice, and they will keep pushing to add him to their squad until the transfer window closes.
Mikel Arteta’s side has many other players they want to sign, so they would not want to spend much of their summer budget on Rice.
