Declan Rice is set to be the next Arsenal player to sign a new contract, with the club having opened formal talks over an extension that would keep the England international at the Emirates well beyond 2028.
Rice joined Arsenal from West Ham in the summer of 2023 for a club-record £105 million and has justified every penny of that fee.
He has made 41 appearances across all competitions this season, contributing four goals and eleven assists, and was named Arsenal’s Player of the Season last year.
His current deal runs until June 2028, and Arsenal hold an option to extend it by a further year, but the club wants him tied down on a longer and more lucrative agreement that reflects his standing at the club.
Arsenal have spent the past year working through a long list of contract renewals. Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Leandro Trossard, and, most recently, Bukayo Saka have all signed new deals, with Saka becoming the club’s highest earner at over £300,000 a week.
Rice, who currently earns around £240,000 a week, is next in line, and according to BBC Sport’s Sam Mokbel, formal talks are now underway.
The negotiations are at an early stage, and no timeline has been set for their completion.
Rice has enough time remaining on his current terms to make this a comfortable rather than urgent process, but Arsenal’s sporting director Andrea Berta had already made contact with Rice’s representatives last year to confirm the club’s intention to open talks in 2026.
Real Madrid and PSG have both been linked with Rice in recent windows, but Arsenal have no intention of entertaining offers, and Rice himself has given no indication that he wants to leave.
This extension, when it comes, will simply confirm what those inside the club already know.
