Atletico Madrid have seemingly been in negotiations with Arsenal for many weeks now about their midfielder Thomas Partey. The Ghanaian midfielder would add significant quality to the Gunners midfield, but so far, no agreement has been reached. Today, two pieces of news suggested Arsenal may now have a serious chance to sign him.
The Spanish side continue to point to the players 50m euros release clause and demand an upfront payment. Meanwhile Arsenal would like to stagger any payment and seem hesitant to pay 50m euros altogether, given the global landscape right now. Partey is also 27 and so the cost seems relatively high – but it’s clear the qualities that the player would add.
So how could Arsenal get a breakthrough? Well today we found out that Atletico Madrid are in financial difficulties. A Spanish reporter on Friday described Atletico as ‘economically drowned’ right now.
And it is not just that, which will give Arsenal fans hope. Atletico are close to finalising a 15m euros deal for Espanyol midfielder Marc Roca. The Spaniard has been linked with Arsenal in the past, and plays as a deep lying central midfield player. Should Atletico sign him, it’s possible he could be viewed as a replacement for Thomas. Although they play different roles, they are deployed in similar areas on the pitch and therefore it could free up Thomas to move.
Arsenal will still have to pay a significant amount for Thomas, but these two pieces of news that have emerged this week suggest that the Gunners may just be able to get a deal done and perhaps for something less than the release clause, now that they have some bargaining power.