Arsenal are just one step away from signing midfielder Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid – as per reports.
The 26-year-old is a product of Atletico’s academy and this season he has been a key player for Diego Simeone’s side both in the league as well as in Europe. This season he has played 35 games across all competitions for the Madrid side, scoring three goals.
Thomas Partey has three years left on his current deal at Atletico but the club have been trying to make him sign a new contract for a long time now. The player though has so far refused to put pen on paper as he wants to explore the other options, primarily the English Premier League.
“At the moment, I am happy at my club,” Partey told ESPN last summer, as quoted by Football London. “But in football, you never know when and where you’ll be in the next day or year.
“The Premier League is a good league, it’s very competitive and has some of the best players in the world. Hopefully, one day. I would like to play there.
“My agents are on it so I will leave everything for them.
“For me, I am happy playing football and I will continue to play where I am now until something comes up for consideration.”
And now it seems like he will be heading to England this summer as London side Arsenal FC have tabled a €50 million bid to sign the 26-year-old.
Arsenal have been lacking a solid defensive midfielder for a couple of seasons now and if they can manage to get their hands on Thomas Partey then surely it will be a job well done from their new manager.
It’s no secret the La Liga side are not interested in selling the player anytime soon but they could be forced to hand Partey over to Arsenal as the player cherishes a move to the English Premier League.
The likes of Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka have been really poor in central midfield this season and the addition of Thomas Partey could the perfect catalyst towards building a solid midfield for the Gunners.
As far as we know, this is the first official offer from the North London club meaning Atletico will most certainly reject it and wait for an improved bid from the English side.
