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Confirmed: Arsenal announce signing of Thomas Partey in £45m deal

By on October 5, 2020

Arsenal have announced on Arsenal.com the signing of Thomas Partey on a long-term contract from Atletico Madrid after paying his £45m release clause.

We’ve been chasing Partey all summer after Mikel Arteta identified the 27-year-old as one of his key transfer targets as the boss looked to revamp his midfield this summer.

Negotiations with Atletico Madrid proved tough as the Spaniard’s refused to do business at anything less than Partey’s £45m release clause and it appeared Arsenal had moved on to alternative targets.

However, news broke earlier this morning suggesting that we had renewed our interest with The Athletic journalist David Ornstein one of several sources claiming we had informed Partey’s camp that we were triggering his clause.

We’ve seen a number of updates throughout the day as Partey undertook his medical in Spain and agreed personal terms with Arsenal, and now we’ve confirmed the midfielder has joined the club on a long-term contract.

Mikel Arteta told Arsenal.com:

“We have been watching Thomas for a while, so we’re now delighted to add such a high quality player to our squad. He is a dynamic midfielder with great energy. He brings a lot of experience from a top club that has competed at the highest level in La Liga and the Champions League for several years.

“We’re very impressed with his attitude and his approach to the game. He’s an intelligent footballer and we’re looking forward to him integrating into our system and contributing to the progress we’re building at the moment at the club.”

Arsenal were forced to bide their time before making their move as we had to offload some players first. Lucas Torreira has moved in the opposite direction after joining Atletico while Matteo Guendouzi has moved to Hertha Berlin on loan.

Those departures paved the way for Arsenal to formalise their interest in Partey on deadline day and the Ghana international should be a superb addition to the squad.

He’s a powerful, athletic midfielder who is a superb ball carrier and terrific passer while he’s also great in the air so he is an excellent all-round midfielder who’ll be a big upgrade on our current options in the middle of the park.

Unfortunately Arsenal failed with their attempts to sign Houssem Aouar so we haven’t brought in another creative midfielder. Let’s hope we can get by until January and maybe revisit the Aouar deal in the winter.