Danny Murphy says he bumped into ahead of his imminent move to Arsenal and got the scoop on the midfielder’s first meeting with his new boss.
The transfer taking Rice from east to north is still not complete, but the huge fee of an initial £100m with £5m in add-ons has been agreed between the clubs.
Personal terms and a medical are not going to be problematic and the 24-year-old is expected to be unveiled as a Gunners player imminently.
Rice has certainly not been shy in talking about his move to the Emirates, with Murphy saying that he had a chat with the central midfielder outside a cafe.
Not only is Rice ‘buzzing’ to get the move done and start his new life with Arsenal, but he labelled his new manager ‘magic’ after meeting with the Spaniard.
Speaking on , former Liverpool and Spurs star Murphy said: ‘I’ve got to say, it’s worth saying I saw Dec on Sunday at the cafe by mine. He was outside, I popped out to see him, I was just ordering a full English, actually.
‘We were chatting, and he was buzzing. He couldn’t wait to get to Arsenal. He said Arteta was magic when he met him.’
Rice is set to join Kai Havertz in signing for Arsenal this summer after the German arrived from Chelsea in a £65m deal.
Jurrien Timber is also set to arrive from Ajax for an initial £36m, but with add-ons the fee could rise to £40m, taking Arsenal’s expenditure to over £200m and with possibly more to come.
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