“I don’t want to see him at my club next season. He made me lose the title to Manchester City last season,” Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke warns Edu to get rid of the £60m star from the club this summer if he wants to retain his job.
With the transfer window now officially open, Arsenal can begin making the necessary additions to close the gap on Manchester City and finally win the Premier League.
The Gunners have already been linked to a plethora of talented footballers, from Nico Williams to Victor Osimhen, but to accommodate bringing in new faces, Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar have to axe those deemed surplus to requirements.
Based on recent reports, one of such players could be on his way out of the Emirates, and in doing so, he’ll free up some significant room in the wage budget as he currently earns more than Bukayo Saka and William Saliba.
Arsenal transfer news
According to a recent report from Football Insider, Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey is now ‘closing in on a summer move to Saudi Arabia.’
The report has revealed that the 31-year-old’s representatives are already in talks with the interested team and that the offer on the table is particularly lucrative for the 30-year-old.
No fee has been reported, but considering his mammoth wages and lack of game time last season, it won’t be more than the £45m the Gunners paid back in 2020.
That said, the report claims that the player is expected to leave by the end of the window, which is probably best for all involved.
Thomas Partey’s wage
The first thing to say is that when Partey is fit and playing, he is one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League, but therein lies the major problem: he’s never fit.
In all, the Ghanaian international made just 16 appearances for Arteta’s title chasers last season, starting ten and totalling just 882 minutes of action – in which he failed to score or provide an assist.
In comparison, Saka and Saliba, two of the club’s most essential players, made 47 appearances and 50 appearances, respectively.
What’s worse, despite barely featuring last season, the former Atlético Madrid star still earns more than both.
The Englishman makes £195k-per-week, and the Frenchman earns £190k-per-week while the former midfield “monster”, as he was dubbed by football presenter Adam Keys, takes home a whopping £200k-per-week.
When combining his original transfer fee and total wages thus far, the 6 foot 1 titan has cost the Gunners around £83.4m, or £725k-per-appearance, £16.6m-per-goal or £20.8m-per-assist.
Ultimately, while Partey is an undeniably talented footballer, he’s now on the wrong side of 30, cannot stay fit and is on a massive wage, so if Arsenal have the chance to offload him this summer and get a fee, they should take it.
