Arsenal fans in Ghana hand Thomas Partey’s family a Gunners shirt

Members of an Arsenal fan club in Ghana have visited Thomas Partey’s family to gift them a Gunners shirt ahead of his rumoured move to the club.

Atletico Madrid star Partey has been subject of mass transfer speculation in recent months with Mikel Arteta’s side one of the favourites to win the race for the Ghanaian’s signature.

Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo revealed that a fan club in Ghana sent a package to the 26-year-old’s family containing an Arsenal jersey and a welcome message.

“This is a way of telling family members to convince their son to join Arsenal,” said Ghana-based journalist Kelvin Ashford Eshun.

The midfielder, who ranks fifth among La Liga midfielders for possession won in the defensive third, has a £45m (€50 million) release clause in his contract and Arsenal remain in talks with the players’ representatives, Gooner Talk understands.

There is interest from across Europe however, with Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain also tailing the Ghana international.

Partey’s Ghana team-mates Edwin Gyasi and Kassim Nuhu have also encouraged their compatriot to sign for Arsenal over the past few days.

“With his class he can play for any club,” said Gyasi.

“He is that type of player that you will love to have on your team. It can attack and it can also defend. He could play on any team but personally I would love to see him play for Arsenal because Arsenal is my favourite club.”

He made 24 La Liga appearances prior to the suspension of football due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and averaged 2.1 tackles per game.

Partey, who played a key role in Atleti’s 4-2 aggregate Champions League victory over Liverpool, is currently earning £65,000-a-week at Atletico Madrid but it’s expected that he’ll double his salary if he goes to the Premier League.

Arteta’s central midfield options are likely to be limited from next season, with Lucas Torreira’s agent admitting last week that the Uruguayan would favour a return to Italy this summer, while Dani Ceballos will return to Real Madrid following the end of his loan spell.

Arsenal’s lack of physicality in the centre of midfield is an issue which Arteta wants to address this summer, with technical director Edu and Head of football Raul Sanllehi keen on sealing a deal for the versatile defence-minded midfielder.