It was the transfer saga that defined the summer of 2020 for Arsenal supporters.
Scarcely a day went by without talk of Thomas Partey’s possible arrival, his fit for Mikel Arteta’s plans and what it might take for Atletico Madrid to part ways with a key player.
There was more than a brief entanglement with Houssem Aouar, for whom Arsenal saw a £32million bid rejected, but Partey invariably loomed large in the Gunners’ plans. He had been Unai Emery’s first choice in the summer of 2019 and was at the top of Arteta’s list this year.
Just as the Partey saga seemed destined to join Gonzalo Higuain, Hatem Trabelsi and Luis Suarez on the list of Arsenal signings that never were the Gunners made their move, indicating to the player’s representatives earlier today that they intended to activate his £45.4million release clause.
![[FILE] Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (L) runs with the ball as Arsenal’s Brazilian defender Gabriel closes in during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London. (Photo by Catherine Ivill / POOL / AFP)](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/000_97B779-scaled-e1703231851386-120x86.jpg "Liverpool host Arsenal in battle for Premier League Christmas No. 1 2")
A medical is imminent, likely to take place in Madrid. Meanwhile Atletico find themselves out of control over Partey’s future, Arsenal needing only to deposit the required fee with the relevant authorities and complete the formalities with the player.
There are unlikely to be any problems over Partey’s personal terms – he is expected to earn around £200,000-a-week – nor will the player need convincing to make the switch. Certainly that much improved salary sweetens the deal significantly whilst football.london revealed in July that the prospect of moving to the Premier League and living in London was intriguing for the Ghanaian international.
Working with Arteta was also an opportunity that Partey relished. The interest in a move to Arsenal had been there for some time.
It has taken six games of the new season but barring any late hiccoughs Arsenal will get their man. The question some will ask is what took so long.
From the outset it is worth noting that Arsenal did attempt to engage Atletico in talks about signing Partey without activating the release clause. Early in the summer they offered a player swap plus cash with Matteo Guendouzi among those who were made available.
Atletico refused insisting it was the release clause or nothing for Partey. The same response came in talks over Lucas Torreira’s loan move to the Spanish capital.
Once negotiations reached that stage it is altogether easier to understand why Arsenal left Partey on the backburner. If they could establish a price at which Lyon would agree to sell Aouar and reach a measure of certainty over which of their current players would move they could operate with full clarity.
The reality is that certainty did not really transpire until the final hours of the window. Lyon, who wanted up to £54million when the Gunners were only prepared to pay £45million, pulled the plug on Aouar. Talk of Jorginho invariably came with the caveat that Chelsea did not want to strengthen a rival with a player who was part of Frank Lampard’s plans.
Meanwhile Arsenal have struggled to cash in on many of their players, entering the final hours of the window there is no indication of a parting of ways with the likes of Sead Kolasinac, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
Even those that Arsenal have managed to move on did not attract significant returns with Hertha Berlin paying no loan fee for Matteo Guendouzi. Only Emiliano Martinez has been sold for a significant sum this summer.
That leaves one question that is harder to answer, how in their current financial state Arsenal have got to a position where they are willing to pay £45million in one go for Partey.
There have been indications from the hierarchy that they could spend money they expect to accrue in future windows this summer. “Sometimes you have to take the leap of faith that you can sign a player today knowing that you’re going to be selling a player tomorrow,” chief executive Vinai Venkatesham said last month.
“And sometimes it can be signing a player today knowing you’re going to sell a player in the next transfer window. We have the same balancing act as every club.”
There have also been suggestions that owner Stan Kroenke will back Arteta in some way despite his reluctance to put his own money directly into the club.
The manager said yesterday: “[The owners] are willing to do it to support us, to back us, because I feel that they believe in what we are trying to do.”
The move for Partey has been greenlit by Kroenke, whose faith in his manager is unwavering. If the new midfielder can help propel Arsenal into the top four it will be a move that may have paid for itself with Champions League money.
And if Arteta is convinced that Partey could be a key addition to his squad, as he has been throughout the summer, then who is Kroenke to question his manager’s football judgement?
Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.
