Amidst the rumours linking Thomas Partey with a move to Arsenal, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has revealed that Mauricio Pochettino wanted to bring the Atletico Madrid midfielder to Tottenham Hotspur.
Partey has been a consistent performer in the heart of Diego Simione’s midfield for several years and has established a reputation as one of the best pivots in La Liga, while also showing on occasions that he can play a more box to box role.
Some Spurs fans were desperate the club to land the 26-year-old last summer but the midfielder ended up staying put at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Arsenal have been backed to land Partey this summer with reports suggesting the Gunners have €50million on the table for him (Corriere dello Sport via Sport Witness).
It has been suggested that the midfielder is ‘one step away’ from completing a move to the Emirates stadium.
Balague has now revealed that, while the Gunners are indeed interested in signing the Ghanian international, there are question marks over whether Mikel Arteta’s side can afford his release clause.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Balague said: “He’s been linked to Arsenal, even his dad has said his buyout clause is €50million, so if anybody wants him, he is available – that is true.
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“Atletico Madrid are pushing him out of the door as well. The thing coming out of the club is that ‘well, we cannot do anything if somebody comes with €50million’, almost like wishing that those €50million arrived.
“They are saying that they believe that Thomas won’t stay there next season, but isn’t that another way of saying that he is for sale? And they believe that he will be in the Premier League and they’ve got indications that Arsenal will be the one.
“€50million for Thomas Partey… it’s very difficult, the information I’m getting of the kind of money that’s available at Arsenal – and it’s not a lot – I would be surprised, very very surprised if that happens.
“Of course, he is somebody that Arsenal likes, I’m not sure they have the money to pay the €50million, and meanwhile himself and Atletico Madrid are open to move on.
“Remember that Thomas Partey was approached by Pochettino to come to Spurs. It didn’t happen because the money wasn’t made available for Pochettino, and that means that it’s been a while now that Thomas Partey has been thinking of leaving.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Under normal circumstances, I would have expected us to battle it out for Partey’s signature since he fits the profile of the kind of player we need in the middle of the park. However, it is clear that we are not in a position to spend anywhere close to €50m on any one player this summer. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg seems to be the one we have earmarked as our fist-choice defensive midfield target.
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