Arsenal face reality of £86.6m transfer outlay as Mikel Arteta plots midfield changes
Arsenal signed Thomas Partey in the summer of 2020 when they activated the Atletico Madrid midfielder’s £45million buyout clause. The Ghanaian became one of the highest-paid players at the club and has earned a yearly salary of £10.4million (£200,000 per week).
However, the now 30-year-old has suffered with persistent injury problems with a further setback recently. Mikel Arteta provided the news ahead of the clash with Liverpool and speculated that it could yet be weeks before he returns again.
“With Thomas, unfortunately, we had a little setback a few days ago, so he’s not going to be available to be in the squad,” Arteta said. “Whether that’s a matter of days or weeks, we’ll see but he had a little thing.
He added when asked further: “I’m not a doctor but I’ll try to [explain]! He felt something again in a very similar area and he wasn’t able to train the last few days.”
Arsenal thankfully had Jorginho in the wings ready to come in and put in a top performance against Liverpool on Sunday. The Italian won the man of the match award for his contribution and partnered Declan Rice in the middle – a partnership many had hoped Partey would have been at the centre of.
Partey has missed a total of 46 games since his arrival. This includes plenty of clashes with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea.
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It has led to claims that he will be made available for transfer in the summer as the Gunners look again to evolve the midfield. Arsenal are interested in signing Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi in the
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