Atletico Madrid will apparently not even speak to Arsenal over Thomas Partey, such is their desire to keep him, AS Sport say.
Arsenal have been chasing Partey for much of the summer so far, with Mikel Arteta desperate to land the Ghanian, but AS claim that the Gunners have now turned the attentions elsewhere.
Arsenal apparently haven’t even been able to enter a discussion with Atleti over the powerful midfielder, as the Spanish club simply do not want to sell.
Partey does have a release clause of around £45 million in his contract, but that is out of Arsenal’s price-range at the moment, and Arteta’s side have apparently looked elsewhere.
It should be noted that these reports from Spain conflict with what English sources are saying about the deal.
Goal said earlier this week that Partey remains a top target for Arsenal and that he actually wants a move to the Emirates Stadium.
What is clear though is that negotiating for the 27-year-old is proving very tough.
Atleti clearly want to keep the defensive midfielder, and given his obvious quality that is a understandable stance for the La Liga side to take.
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