Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey attracting interest from Italy?

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey is allegedly on the radar of two clubs in Italy.

The Gunners opted to pay Atletico Madrid a £45.3m fee in October 2020 to complete a signing that was intended to take the club up the Premier League standings.

That initially failed to materialise, Arsenal remaining outside of the top four in the table until their title charge during 2022-23.

While Mikel Arteta's side ultimately fell short, Partey played his part in keeping Arsenal in first place for much of the campaign, making a total of 27 starts and five substitute outings.

However, the 29-year-old has been less effective in the middle of the pitch of late, resulting in a surprise switch to right-back for Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest.

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Although Partey was one of the few players to come out of the match at the City Ground with any credit, the change of positions has been taken as a sign that Arteta no longer views the Ghana international as an integral part of his engine room.

According to The Mirror, two unnamed teams in Italy are monitoring any developments at the Emirates Stadium ahead of the summer transfer window.

The report says that Arteta is increasingly willing to make changes in midfield as he plots how to close the gap on Manchester City.

Granit Xhaka is already expected to end his stint with the North Londoners over the coming weeks in order to complete a transfer to Bayer Leverkusen.

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Should Partey also make his way through the exit door, it would see Arsenal's first-choice pairing from what has still been a productive campaign leave for pastures new.

Partey has just over two years remaining on his contract, and it is plausible that Arsenal may wish to cash in on a player who turns 30 years of age in June.

Arteta is allegedly keen to complete the double signing of West Ham United's Declan Rice and Brighton & Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo, deals which would cost a combined total of in excess of £150m.

Arsenal are said to be willing to part ways with as many as 11 players in order to boost the transfer warchest that will be given to Arteta ahead of the club's return to the Champions League.