Arsenal’s offer of £22.8 million + Guendouzi for Partey rejected by Atletico, Guendouzi prefers Barca

Arsenal have offered Atletico Madrid £22.8 million in addition to one of their players, believed to be Matteo Guendouzi, for Thomas Partey, according to Get French Football News. The Spanish club have rejected the offer and have indicated that they will only sell Partey if his £45 million release clause is triggered. Arsenal have informed Atletico that they do not plan on meeting the Ghanaian midfielder’s buyout clause, according to Fabrizio Romano of Sky Sports. 

Matteo Guendouzi has been training away from the first team for the last month on the orders of Mikel Arteta. This is because the player chose against apologising for his actions in the closing stages of the match against Brighton last month in addition to other disciplinary issues he has run into in the last few months. 

The 21 year old worked his way back into Arteta’s plans after a disagreement between the two early on in the Spaniard’s tenure as Arsenal head coach but it looks extremely unlikely that this will happen again. 

The former Lorient midfielder is prepared to leave Arsenal this summer as he believes he needs to get game time in order to be a part of the French squad for the European Championship next year. He is not against a move to the Rojiblancos but would prefer for Barcelona to be his next club. He is more confident about getting minutes at the Camp Nou and believes he would fit into the policy of rotation in midfield at the Spanish giants. 

It is understood that contrary to recent media reports, Arsenal have not held formal discussions with Barcelona regarding a deal for Guendouzi and have not offered him to the Blaugrana in a deal to bring Coutinho to the Emirates yet. It is important to note that the French midfielder’s representatives have been in constant contact with the Catalan club about a potential deal.