Transfer Centre

Report: Arsenal learn Thomas Partey release clause

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 03 June 2020

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague expects rumoured Arsenal target Thomas Partey to remain at Atletico Madrid due to the hefty release clause in his contract.

Arsenal have reportedly been told that they must hand over €50m (£44.6m) to sign top midfield target Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid.

Partey's father revealed in April that talks were underway with the Gunners over an end-of-season switch.

The coronavirus pandemic put a halt to discussions, but the 26-year-old is said to remain keen on moving to the Premier League with Arsenal this summer, while Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea have previously made enquiries over his availability.

However, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague is unsure if any interested teams will continue their pursuit of Partey after learning the value of his release clause.

"Now, what I'm hearing is he's got a buyout clause of €50 million," he said on his YouTube channel. "This €50m is an interesting figure but not many clubs are going to go that far for Thomas.

"We've seen that PSG has already spent that on [Mauro] Icardi and that will probably be already the record for this summer in the transfer window. Has there been contact? There was a very clear possibility of him moving to England last summer.

"Spurs, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal all enquired about Thomas. It didn't happen but it tells you that perhaps it's the player that Atletico Madrid would be more fearful of losing because he's growing, but is more willing to leave. That's as much as we can say.

"Atletico Madrid would like him to sign another contract, but he's not signing another contract, that's as much as I can tell you."

Partey has spent the past five seasons with Atletico Madrid, making 174 appearances in all competitions, and is under contract until the end of the 2022-23 campaign.