Arsenal are willing to pay the €50m buyout clause for Atlético Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey, although the Spanish side say they are not aware of interest.
That’s according to Cuatro, who say that Arsenal have been interested in the midfielder ‘for a long time’ and could finalise a deal on the final day of the transfer window.
Of course, that’s nothing new given we’ve covered reports about the Gunners interest in the Ghanaian for several months and the fact Mikel Arteta is a fan is now well established.
Their willingness to pay that €50m clause is new, with Cuatro being the latest to back it up today.
It seems their need for reinforcements has outweighed their preferences however and Cuatro say that Partey or his lawyers could pay his clause at La Liga headquarters before tonight’s deadline.
This is backed up by Sport, who say that the Gunners have already communicated to La Liga that they will be paying the clause and the deal ‘could be announced’ this afternoon.
Atlético, for their part, are insisting they ‘know nothing’ of Arsenal’s interest but that could just be them saving face given the last two weeks have seen claims he won’t be going.
Alternatively, they may genuinely know nothing about what’s going on, given Arsenal wouldn’t have to be in contact if they were simply paying the clause outright as suggested.
Either way, this potential transfer appears to be on to keep an eye on with the situation seemingly developing rapidly.
