The major roadblock that could prevent Arsenal from CRUCIAL transfer

Suraj Radia

• Updated: 17 Jul 2024 16:13 BST
• 3 min read

One of Mikel Arteta’s biggest priorities this summer has been to sign a midfield partner for Declan Rice but Arsenal could face a major roadblock in their plans.

Rice was one of the frontrunners for the Premier League Player of the Season award during his debut campaign for the Gunners after his record transfer from West Ham last summer.

However, despite Rice’s performances in the middle of the park, Arsenal still came up second best to Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.

READ MORE: Arsenal Riccardo Calafiori pursuit in doubt

Although Arteta preferred to keep a consistent line-up for the majority of the season, one of the highly-rotated positions for the Arsenal boss was the centre midfield spot alongside Rice and Martin Odegaard.

Kai Havertz was initially fielded in that role but the €75 million signing struggled initially and only found form when he was moved further forward to play in attack.

The change saw Jorginho finish the season as Rice’s midfield partner and, despite his good form leading to him penning a new one-year contract, Arsenal are keen to find a long-term successor to the 32-year-old, however it may not be possible this summer.

Arsenal need to move Partey on to sign midfielder

A report in The Athletic has stated that, while Arsenal have interest in players such as Joao Neves or Martin Zubimendi, any new midfield signing would require Thomas Partey to be moved on – something which has proven difficult over the past year.

READ MORE: Premier League summer transfers 2024: All the Done Deals

The 31-year-old is in the final 12 months of his contract at the Emirates and has been linked to a number of sides in Saudi Arabia, having only started nine Premier League games last season.

Partey is one of Arsenal’s highest earners and is still considered an important part of the squad, however his age, salary and fitness concerns have made the club reluctant to extend his deal.

STATS

Thomas Partey

M (C)

Arsenal

Thomas Partey

M (C)

Arsenal

All Tournaments

2023/24

• 16

  Games

• 0

  Goals

• 0

  Assists

View all stats

As FootballTransfers exclusively revealed earlier this month, Arsenal have held talks with Real Sociedad over signing Mikel Merino and the Spaniard would represent an ideal partner for Rice, particularly given his cut-price availability as he also enters the final year of his contract.

But a move for Merino or any other target would first depend on selling Partey, meaning that the Gunners could once again continue with him and Jorginho as their midfield options if no progress is made towards a sale for the Ghanian.