Update: Bayern Munich bows out of transfer race it was never really seriously in

Update — 11:40AM EDT: Bayern bows out of Rice race

Well, Bayern Munich will not be getting West Ham’s Declan Rice.

The Bavarians are conceding the race to Arsenal FC per Sky Sport journalist Florian Plettenberg:

Sport Bild’s Tobi Altschäffl confirmed the news as well:

This was always going to be a longshot.

According to 90Min.com, Arsenal FC has gotten over the internal doubt about spending £100 million (€116 million) on West Ham defensive midfielder Declan Rice.

The club has reportedly made the decision that will likely prove to be the death knell for Bayern Munich’s hopes to make a deal happen for the 24-year-old:

Arsenal have made a major breakthrough in their pursuit of Declan Rice after agreeing to pay West Ham more than £100m for the England midfielder, sources have told 90min.

Rice has long been the Gunners’ top summer target, but there had been a reluctance to meet the lofty valuation of the Europa Conference League winners, who are standing firm on their insistence that the 24-year-old will only be sold for in excess of £100m.

But with rivals Chelsea and Bayern Munich circling, 90min understands that Arsenal have pushed ahead in their bid to land Rice and have told West Ham that they will pay more than £100m to take their captain to north London.

An official offer is yet to be made for Rice but if Arsenal finalize the deal, as they are now expected to do, the 24-year-old will become the most expensive English player of all-time, surpassing Manchester City’s deal for Jack Grealish and Real Madrid’s summer move for Jude Bellingham.

It would seem like things will move relatively quickly from here in terms of just having everyone on the same page. While a formal transfer could take some time due to the international session, negotiations, and logistics, the numbers are falling into place and all three parties (West Ham, Arsenal, and Rice) appear to be working in concert to make it work.