Thomas Partey is expected to sign a four-year contract worth £250,000 a week at Arsenal as Mikel Arteta closes in on a deal for the £51 million Atletico Madrid midfielder, according to the Guardian.
Those in the red half of north London might have consigned themselves to a deadline day of disappointment, with Gunnarsaurus’s departure the most eye-catching piece of news to emerge from the Emirates.
Until, that is, the rumour mill went into overdrive.
Because a deal that has been on everyone’s lips since as long ago as March now appears to be motoring along at breakneck speed.
The Guardian reports that, despite seemingly being unwilling or unable to meet his £51 million release clause all summer long, there has been a sudden change of heart at Arsenal.
And Partey, the Ghanaian international who has long been Arteta’s number one target along with Lyon’s lithe little playmaker Houssem Aouar, is now expected to be posing for photos in a different red-and-white kit before tonight’s 11pm deadline.
The report adds Partey will sign a contract until 2024, with wages of £250,000 a week expected to make him the club’s third-highest earner behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil.
There has been nothing official yet from either side but Samuel Zigah, the Atletico Madrid star’s agent, couldn’t resist an opportunity to send Twitter into a tizzy at lunchtime.
Arsenal’s record transfer deals
- Nicolas Pepe
£72 million
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
£56 million
- Alexandre Lacazette
£52 million
- Thomas Partey
45 million
- Mesut Ozil
£42 million
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
