‘Very happy’: Fabrizio Romano says £45m Arsenal player really impressed in pre-season and now won’t be sold

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Arsenal need to sell a few players before the end of the summer.

For all of the good work the Gunners have done this summer, they’ve been lacking when it comes to selling players.

The likes of Nicolas Pepe, Cedric Soares and Albert Sambi Lokonga are, somehow, still at the club, and they need to sell some of their fringe players.

One man who was also linked with a move away from the Emirates earlier in this window was Thomas Partey.

There were strong links to both Saudi Arabia and Juventus at one point, but, according to Fabrizio Romano, speaking on The Debrief, it’s now unlikely that Partey is sold as he has impressed in pre-season.

Partey won’t go now

Romano shared what he knows about the £45m player.

“I think now it’s really really unlikely. They tried at the end of July for around €25m, and then for €30, €35m they were convinced in Saudi that this would be the best way to get the deal done. But the message from Arsenal is that €35m is not enough, €45m is not enough, they want closer to €50m to think about it,” Romano said.

“At the end of June, Thomas Partey was considered a player on the market for a good fee, but then when they restarted pre-season and with Mikel Arteta in direct contact with the player, they saw a very good Thomas Partey, very good in pre-season, a very good approach. They are very happy with him, they are not desperate to sell him, there’s a very good chance he will stay at the club.”

Shouldn’t have considered it

The fact that Partey was ever considered to be up for sale is a bit ridiculous.

The Gunners have a talented squad, but their depth in midfield isn’t where it needs to be right now, so selling Partey would be ridiculous.

Alongside Declan Rice, Partey is the only top-class natural midfielder Arsenal have, and if they let him go, they’d be one injury away from someone like Mohamed Elneny or Albert Sambi Lokonga starting every week, and, with all due respect, that’s not how you win a league title.

Arsenal should never have been thinking about selling Partey.