No football, but plenty of gossip regarding Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey. I refer to it as gossip because it’s all from fluffy sources and conflicts with the player’s earlier statements. He had said to ESPN last summer when asked about a move:
“At the moment, I am happy at my club,”
“But in football, you never know when and where you’ll be in the next day or year”
So allow me to rain on the parade for a while longer until the guy appears with Arteta clutching an Arsenal shirt. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Arsenal find the cash and pay his reported £44.8m fee because this signing would be not only a statement of intent but would solve a major problem that has remained unsolved for many seasons.
Arsenal are way too soft and lacks a steel spine, something that has been blatantly obvious to the Arsenal board for a great many seasons. The time has come for those that control the budgets to force the transfer with a substantial bid and I don’t mean the usual derisory offer of plus £1.
Arsenal may have trouble getting anywhere near the asking price but if neighbours Spurs can get a £175m loan, I’m sure Arsenal could put a package together of money generated from the sales of players, deferred terms and cash payments.
Let’s see what Raul Sanllehi is made of and secure a massive piece of the Arsenal puzzle. Of course, we don’t know if Arsenal have any other options open to them, but they won’t be as good as Thomas Partey.
The Sun are implying that the Atletico Madrid midfielder is pushing for the move and has quoted two sources of information that are feeding the speculation.
‘According to FootballGhana, he is “desperate” to make a switch to England. His father Jacob said in an interview that he would join a top Premier League side, but Diego Simeone is also keen to keep him in the Spanish capital.’
‘HITC have another whisper to add to the already brimming pot of rumours by suggesting that Partey’s friend Kasim Nuhu, who also bunks with the £44.8 million-rated [Telegraph] star on international duty, has actively encouraged the player to join Arsenal to prove himself.’
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It’s a story that doesn’t appear to want to go away and until Partey actually arrives at the Emirates, perhaps we should remain cautious and calm. If this was the only signing this transfer window, I’d be happy with that. Ok, I’d be ecstatic!
