How Arsenal ‘went big’ to sign Partey in a deal two years in the making

Since Arsenal’s interest in Thomas Partey first intensified in 2018, the Ghanaian midfielder has made a habit of regularly tuning into their games from his home in Madrid. He has watched the undulations of the last two years with interest, always hoping the club he was intent on joining would one day come back for him.

On transfer deadline day, Arsenal finally made good on their promise. A message to the Partey camp on Monday morning indicated the club were willing to meet his €50 million release clause. Atletico Madrid, unwilling to let Partey go, have sought to increase the value of the clause several times over the past few seasons. By the time they were aware of Arsenal’s deadline-day operation, the player had been all but snatched away, the whole deal done in Spain. It was La Liga who informed Atletico that Partey’s clause had been triggered, rather than Arsenal themselves. Atletico were left furious at the lack of notice, with one senior source describing Arsenal’s approach as “incredible” and feel the relationship between the two clubs is irreparable.

The discourteous approach is reminiscent of when Arsenal approached Mikel Arteta without first contacting Manchester City. With the clock ticking down, Arsenal will plead that deadline day is no time for courtesy — it is a time to be bold, and this signing is certainly a bold move.

Arsenal’s interest in Partey stems back to 2014, when he was stationed on loan with Almeria. At that time, he played as an adventurous midfielder, rather than as a holding player. It was former Arsenal scout Francis Cagigao who first identified him as a good fit for Arsene Wenger’s team, before later proposing his signing to Sven Mislintat and Unai Emery.

Emery, who knew the player well from his time in La Liga, was already an admirer of Partey’s combination of power, technique and intelligence. When Arsenal hosted Napoli in April 2019, Partey’s representatives were present at the Emirates Stadium. Talks with high-level officials were held at the club’s Highbury House and Partey’s demands were made plain: a salary over €250,000 per week with a signing-on fee of €2.5 million, plus the associated agents’ commission.

Along with the €50 million buyout clause, which had to be deposited in a single instalment, it made for an expensive deal. Despite Emery’s admiration for the player, he made clear to the club’s executive committee that his priority was the addition of a winger. That led to Arsenal focusing on the expensive pursuit of Wilfried Zaha and ultimately Nicolas Pepe, rendering Partey unaffordable. Instead, Raul Sanllehi thrashed out a deal to sign Dani Ceballos on loan.

Arsenal’s interest, however, did not end there. Over the course of the following season, Arsenal officials continued to watch Partey and maintain contact with the player’s representatives. It is a tight camp: although he remains close to his own family, Partey left his home in Odumase Krobo, Ghana, at just 10 years old to pursue a professional career. After playing with a second-division youth team in Ghana, he eventually travelled to Madrid as an 18-year-old trialist. It was there that agent Jose Jimenez of JJ Sports took him under his wing, with sources subsequently describing Jimenez and his son as Partey’s “second family”.

Over the last two years, Arsenal scouts had watched Partey on more than 20 separate occasions. When Cagigao presented the dossier of recommendations for the summer 2020 transfer window, Partey was at the very top of their list. It’s notable that in the summer that Arsenal chose to dispense with the vast majority of their network of scouts, their two biggest signings — Partey and centre-half Gabriel — both arrived after recommendations from that department.

Arsenal entered the window knowing their midfield would require significant strengthening. Initially, they set out to acquire players who would provide options at “No 10, No 8 and No 6”. The signing of Willian and a second loan spell for Ceballos went some way towards meeting that goal, but Arsenal continued to consider moves for Partey and Lyon playmaker Houssem Aouar.

When Atletico made it clear they would only contemplate allowing Partey to leave if the release clause was triggered, Arsenal set that deal to one side. They began to explore the potential transfer of Aouar — a player admired by Arteta since his time working alongside Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. As recently as last week, Arsenal were confident they were capable of securing the deal. Technical director Edu instigated talks with compatriot and Lyon sporting director Juninho Pernambucano.

That may, in part, have been Arsenal’s undoing. It is president Jean-Michel Aulas who is the key decision-maker at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais. One source privy to Lyon’s internal politics characterised Edu and Juninho’s conversations as “like two kids trying to learn to ride a tricycle” — to do a deal with Lyon, you must get in front of Aulas. Arsenal’s subsequent offers fell considerably short of Lyon’s demand for more than €50 million. Aulas set clear deadlines for the negotiations, but an agreement was not forthcoming. With the player also having second thoughts after overtures from Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid about a potential transfer in 2021, the prospect of any deal collapsed.

As the transfer window entered its final weekend, Edu and Arteta’s focus shifted back to acquiring someone capable of operating at the base of midfield — the elusive No 6. With Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira both headed for the exit, Arsenal were in danger of leaving themselves with just Granit Xhaka, Ceballos and Mohamed Elneny as senior options in that area.

Edu and Arteta landed on Chelsea’s Jorginho as a suitable target — another player prized by Arteta during his time at the Etihad. The hope was that if Chelsea’s long-standing interest in Declan Rice solidified, the Brazilian might be deemed surplus to requirements. Chelsea, however, did not aggressively pursue Rice, and consequently informed Arsenal that Jorginho was not for sale.

And so back to Partey. Arsenal sources indicate it was not a case of Partey over Aouar — it was a case of what remained possible in this window. Although deadline day deals are often associated with panic, Arsenal have sought to bring a calm, methodical approach to the market. Those familiar with Arsenal’s transfer strategy have expressed surprise that the club have ultimately opted to proceed with the most expensive deal on their potential list. It is understood that, once salary is accounted for, the total deal for Partey could cost in the region of €100 million.

Having already acquired Gabriel and Willian, staff had been operating under the impression the club needed to sell several players to fund further spending. For Arsenal, this window was always intended to be as much about selling as buying.

That side of things has proved more difficult. In a depressed market, Arsenal have struggled to find takers for the likes of Sokratis, Sead Kolasinac, Shkodran Mustafi and Guendouzi, although the latter eventually joined Hertha Berlin on loan. Wolverhampton Wanderers were interested in purchasing Ainsley Maitland-Niles, though not at a price Arsenal deemed acceptable. Although there were multiple suitors for Torreira, the player’s determination to join Atletico Madrid meant Arsenal eventually agreed to a loan deal. With the midfielder under Arsenal contract until 2023, they hope a positive spell in La Liga could enable them to attract an attractive price next summer.

Arsenal fans will doubtless have cast envious eyes at Liverpool who, in Rhian Brewster, sold a striker without a Premier League appearance to his name for £23.5 million. Brewster’s nationality and the champions’ celebrated status almost certainly contribute to that hefty price tag, but nevertheless, Liverpool are a club that consistently sell well. As well as obvious instances like Coutinho’s transfer to Barcelona, they also received £15 million for Jordon Ibe, £19 million for Dominic Solanke and £12.5 million for Danny Ward. Earlier this summer, Wolves paid £13.5 million for defender Ki-Jana Hoever. Although Arsenal tend to hold on to players for too long, allowing their value to diminish, Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards has a great instinct for when to sell. It can appear ruthless, but the financial benefit is unquestionable.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have struggled to offload their high-earning fringe players — the intransigence of Mesut Ozil, insistent he will see out the final year of his contract, is a case in point. Arsenal aren’t alone in this — Chelsea have experienced similar issues when it comes to shifting offcuts. The economic crisis has made extracting fees from European clubs more difficult than ever.

The one squad player Arsenal were able to sell for a respectable fee was substitute goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who joined Aston Villa for a fee in the region of £20 million. After his impressive run in the team during Bernd Leno’s absence, Martinez was determined not to return his role as a perennial back-up. Arteta and goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana, however, were united in regarding Leno as the definitive No 1.

Arsenal intended to replace Martinez with Brentford’s David Raya but the Championship club were unwilling to sell. That led to Arsenal moving for 25-year-old Iceland international Runar Alex Runarsson, another former Cana protege. Arsenal’s interest in Raya, however, remains: although the Spaniard recently signed a new contract seemingly committing him to Brentford until 2024, sources have told The Athletic that the deal includes a minimum fee release clause that comes into action in the summer of 2021.

Part of Raya’s appeal is that having come through Blackburn Rovers’ academy, he qualifies as a homegrown player. Following the closure of the domestic transfer window on October 16, Arsenal will have to register their 25-man squad with the Premier League, in which they are permitted to have no more than 17 non-homegrown players. With the closure of the European window, Arsenal currently have 19 senior professionals in that bracket. It seems Arteta will soon face a formal decision on whom to exclude.

The struggle to move players on means there remains a slightly flabby, imbalanced look to sections of the Arsenal squad. There’s a surfeit of central defenders and arguably still space for another creative midfielder. The overhaul is unfinished.

Perhaps that should come as no great surprise, given the scale of the job at hand. Arsenal also lost head of football and chief negotiator Sanllehi just weeks into the window, placing an enormous and unexpected burden on Edu and contract specialist Huss Fahmy. As one Arsenal staff member at Arsenal put it in the midst of the transfer madness, “Edu’s head is on fire from all the negotiations”. Arsenal’s leadership team of Edu, Arteta and new chief executive Vinai Venkatesham have endured a period of significant instability and still managed to execute something like the plan.

Arsenal, like all Premier League clubs, have also been contending with the economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic. The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust estimate that COVID-19 is likely to take Arsenal from a situation where they would have reported a small profit of £4 million for this current season to one of recording a financial loss of over £40 million for 2019-20. If stadiums are empty for the remainder of 2020-21, the AST believes Arsenal could record a loss of a further £80 million — without accounting for that investment in Partey.

Set against that backdrop, the work Arsenal have done this summer is impressive. In Gabriel, they have signed a coveted centre-half who is already adapting well to English football. Willian has brought experience and versatility. Bringing Ceballos back on loan from Madrid was no certainty, but Arsenal beat Real Betis to the punch. The merit of converting loan deals for Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares into permanent signings will be debated, but until both players have made a greater impression on the Arsenal first-team, it is difficult to assess their true quality.

There will be no arguments, however, about the significance of signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to a new deal. Arsenal stretched the limits of their creaking wage budget to tie him into a three-year contract, the terms of which mean he has the potential to become the club’s highest earner. On top of that, they tied down the promising duo of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to long-term contracts. That outlay demonstrated backing for Arteta, and an optimism about what the next few seasons could bring.

The same is true for the signing of Partey. At 27, he is five years older than Arsenal’s other major target, Aouar. However, Arteta has already shown a preference for experience in pivotal positions. In Partey, Arteta believes he is getting a player who is already the finished article. That should enable him to have an instant impact — Fernandinho was already 28 when he arrived at Manchester City, and has proved enormous value. Arsenal want to push on now.

This is not the first time in recent history Arsenal have finished the summer window on a high. The celebrations that greeted transfer deadline day a year ago now serve as a cautionary reminder that spending does not guarantee success. However, Arsenal appear to have emerged from adversity with a more complete squad. The club have sensed an opportunity — stumbling rivals, a team with newfound momentum, a manager on the rise — and have seized it. Arsenal have gone for it.

(Photo: Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)