Hello Partey, Goodbye Torriera ; Thomas Partey Incoming as Arsenal Invoke Release Clause at The 11th Hour | OneFootball

According to reports from Goal, Arsenal have made a late move on deadline day to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey. Arsenal have agreed to pay the Ghana international’s release clause to bring him to the Emirates before tonight’s transfer deadline.

This may go down as one of the most difficult and complicated transfer windows in Arsenal’s history, with Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu Gaspar trying to find the finances they otherwise don’t have. There is much to do in a short space of time but one deal that has gone through is that of Lucas Torreira to Atletico Madrid, which surely greases the rails for Thomas Partey departure, hopefully to Arsenal now.

The bigger impact is a cash injection to bring the Gunners’ main target Thomas Partey to Arsenal. It’s been a devil of a deal to get done as stubborn Atletico Madrid seem hell-bent on squeezing a big fee out of cash-strapped Arsenal but at the time of writing this, it appears the deal is very much alive at the very last moment and highly likely to go through at the expense of everything else (Aouar Sigh !!).

The Gunners have been in discussions with the LaLiga side regarding the midfielder and were hoping to sign him at a price less than the release clause. But, Atletico insisted on letting the player leave only if the clause is activated and Arsenal had notified the Rojiblancos that the set price was too high.

Moreover, Lucas Torreira is set to sign for Atletico Madrid on a year-long loan deal with an option to make the move permanent next year, and Matteo Guendouzi is on the verge of joining Hertha Berlin on a season-long loan.

With the Aouar deal falling through and several midfield players exiting the Emirates at the last moment, Arsenal’s stance has changed and they have activated the player’s release clause and have indicated the same to LaLiga. The Arsenal board are currently working out a way to get the deal done.

Thomas Partey will be a solid addition to the Gunners midfield, given the player’s experience and attributes. He is one of the most dominant defensive midfielders in Europe, becoming the bedrock of Simeone’s team ever since he moved to the first team in 2015.

This is a player Arsenal are in desperate need of. Ever since Patrick Vieira left the Emirates, Arsenal have lacked a truly influential defensive midfielder, one who is highly efficient in breaking up play, breaking counter-attacks, a dominating presence in front of the defence, and someone who can keep things rolling when in possession of the ball. Partey ticks all the boxes.

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Under Arteta’s guidance, Granit Xhaka has become the most important element of Arsenal’s midfield, but the Swiss lack a good defensive midfielder to partner him. With the arrival of Partey, Xhaka would be able to divide the defensive duties with him. This would also enable Ceballos to purely focus on building Arsenal’s forward play.

The Gunners remain busy on deadline day with just a few hours remaining and we can certainly see a few ins and outs at the 11th hour.

Stay tuned to know more!