Declan Rice signing a new long-term contract is now “a matter of time”, and it is his manager saying so.
Mikel Arteta has gone on record about the midfielder’s future, and the numbers being attached to the deal would put him at the very top of the wage bill at Arsenal.
Rice is in the final two years of the contract he signed when he arrived from West Ham in 2023, still on the same terms. There is a one-year option that could take it to 2029, but the club have been treating an improved deal as a priority.
According to BBC Sport, talks had reached an advanced stage by early October, days after Arteta committed himself with a new four-year contract of his own.
What did Arteta say about Rice’s contract?
Asked in his press conference before the trip to Liverpool whether he was anticipating an agreement, Arteta said: “Yes, my feeling is that he is very happy here.”
He went on: “Every conversation I have with him, he wants to continue here for the long term and it will be a matter of time when we resolve that.”
There is no signature yet and Arteta gave no date. Still, managers tend to dodge this question when there is a problem, and he did the opposite.
Would Rice become Arsenal’s highest-paid player?
On the figures being reported, yes. Rice’s current wage is quoted at somewhere between £240,000 and £260,000 a week, and the new deal is expected to take him to £350,000.
That would take him past Bukayo Saka, whose wage is most recently put at £300,000 a week, although some reports have him as high as £350,000. So the exact gap depends on whose numbers you trust.
There is a bigger record in play as well. Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were both reported to be on £350,000 a week, but those packages are said to have included performance add-ons. A basic £350,000 before bonuses would make Rice the best-paid player Arsenal have ever had.
Why the Gunners are happy to pay it
The output is hard to argue with. Rice has 22 goals and 35 assists in 170 Arsenal appearances, and he has already set up four goals in eight Premier League matches this season.
Then there is the availability, which might be the real selling point. He missed just two Premier League games in the title-winning 2025-26 season, and has sat out only five matches for club and country through injury since 2023. He was also among the three injury boosts Arteta confirmed before Anfield.
He has been Arsenal’s Player of the Season in each of the last two campaigns, has done a job at number six, number eight and right-back, and at 27 is still only just reaching his prime years. His 15th place in the 2026 Ballon d’Or voting came in a year when no Arsenal player made the top 10, a snub that says more about the voters than about him.
Who is next after Rice?
Rice is one of nine Arsenal players whose deals run out in the summer of 2028, so sporting director Andrea Berta has plenty left to do once this one is finished.
David Raya, Jurrien Timber and captain Martin Odegaard are all in line for extensions, though the skipper’s situation is the delicate one after reports that Arsenal would sell him next summer if talks fail. Ben White could yet play his way into a new deal after a bright, injury-free start to the season.
Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz are the two question marks. Both can leave for nothing in under 24 months: Merino because he is second-string, Havertz because of his inconsistent form and fitness.
Verdict: Declan Rice’s new contract is the easy decision
£350,000 a week is a huge number, and it will shape every conversation that follows with the other eight players in that 2028 group. Once Rice has it, the next agent through the door knows what the top of the scale looks like.
But Arsenal should pay it without blinking. A player who is rarely injured, can fill three positions and has been the club’s best two years running is exactly who a wage structure should be built around. The harder talks come after this one.
