Quincy Abeyie wrote:

It will be very tough to finish top four next season. If Chelsea buy Havertz in addition to already getting Ziyech and Werner I think it's a given that they'll get one spot. That leaves Tottenham, United and us to fight for the last one. I'm not scared of the former, but United are playing well at the moment and have tons of cash.

Then there is still LCFC, Wolves, an improved Everton, the prospect of another club with mega rich owners at NUFC, and the removal of the FA FFP means that the promoted clubs do not need to restrict spending.

goon wrote:

City will be banned next year too. Plenty of room.

If serious then you are the first person I've seen to actually say they think they will fail in their appeal.

Partey will make us more competitive re UEFA qualification, but will not necessarily 'guarantee' top4/UCL, let alone close the gap to those big6 clubs above us. More so if signing him means we need to sell at least 1 current starting player to raise funds, and we are then unable to sign any other players - particularly if Ceballos departs and we are 1 starting forward down having sold to raise funding for Partey.
After next season we may have additional requirements to replace departing players at CB, AM & CF.
Is there some point where we look at PlanB options or do we go all in for Partey regardless?

All in for Partey. He’ll allow us to get a far better balanced midfield which in turn will help get the best out of others.

He also helps address our physical issues.

Don’t forget we have Saliba joining, our youngsters will be that much more experienced and Pepe will benefit from having a season in England under his belt.

We’ll improve by virtue of Arteta having had time to implement his ideas.

I also think we’ll see more player movement to allow us to strengthen furyer

Like him as a player but not a bloke but I can see us signing Grealish.

Worth asking, is he more of a Makelele or a Vieira? I've only watched him in three CL games.

He’s more Vieira but there’s nothing like Vieira. Try watch him if you can. There’s 3 rounds of La Liga. The guy is going to transform our midfield.

Defense - incredibly high energy and awareness. When his team is in the press, he keeps them organized but is constantly running and pressing the opposition players. He has an insane number of interceptions for two reasons. First he is aggressive at getting the ball off players. Second, his anticipation is incredible. He is always looking around to see where the ball is going next and moves in to nick a pass. He did both of these so well against Barca who are a team that is careful about ball retention. He runs incessantly, is strong, combative and is powerful in the air.

Offense - different from our defensive midfielders in his progressive passing. High emphasis on moving the ball forward and passing between the lines. He also does a lot of runs with the ball. He’s not a fancy dribbler like Pépé, just progresses the ball, so helps keep pressure on opponents. Very different from some of our sideways first guys.

Cheers for that, Claude. I've been curious myself.

Sounds very exciting, hope we pull it off.

We still need another starter there though.

No problem. Didn't add that on the passing he's good at building the play from the back, being the first guy to get the ball from the central defenders. So if you want a forward-looking team, you would want him in Xhaka's position.

Tweet saying Partey is about to extend with Atletico. No idea of the source etc, but given how things are going for us right now you’d bet on it being bang on.

I think Partey joining was always conditional on us regaining UCL - same applies in regard to keeping players like PEA.

Wouldn't be surprising if he used us to get a better contract either. Players often do it with United.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Wouldn't be surprising if he used us to get a better contract either. Players often do it with United.

On this point this is the sort of player we perhaps should not be looking to sign, as they think they can take their pick and may not be hungry enough despite the fact they would likely improve us - Ozil being the perfect example.

So the news came from Ghanasoccernet.com. They said in June he was gonna join 100% and that his agent was in London. 2 days a go they said Barca was going to buy him, and yesterday they said he will sign an extension with Ateltico.

Well theres no way he'll come here now.

Zakaria,Roca or Sangare as cheaper alternatives?

Kondogbia, Camara too

A Madrid based source who has close link to Thomas Partey’s agent and Atletico Madrid hadn’t been able to confirm the contract extension story published in Ghana a few days ago [H/T: @charles_watts YouTube]

Not the best source.

HomeSteak wrote:

A Madrid based source who has close link to Thomas Partey’s agent and Atletico Madrid hadn’t been able to confirm the contract extension story published in Ghana a few days ago [H/T: @charles_watts YouTube]

Not the best source.

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2020/07/16/journalist-drops-positive-hint-to-combat-rumours-arsenal-have-lost-out-on-prime-target/
[size=small]Goal’s Arsenal correspondent Charles Watts has cast doubt on Ghana SoccerNet’s recent report claiming that Thomas Partey has decided to snub Arsenal to sign a new contract with Atletico Madrid.[/size]

[size=small]Watts claims that after talks with someone close to both Atletico and Partey’s camp, there’s ‘nothing’ to ‘back’ Ghana SoccerNet’s report up at this moment in time.[/size]
[size=small]Watts reiterates that himself and his sources are yet to ‘confirm’ the accuracy of these reports, but does admit that there’s a chance that the Ghanaian reports could still be ‘true’.[/size]