Thomas Partey is expected to leave Arsenal before the start of next season and AC Milan have been named among his admirers.
According to CaughtOffside, Arsenal are expected to refreshed their midfield with the signing of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad. The Spain international is ‘expected to be Mikel Arteta’s first-choice defensive midfielder’, but he still wanted to keep Partey.
Partey in or out?
Partey made 52 appearances for Arsenal across all competitions in 2024-25, which caused the directors to accelerate talks over a new contract towards the end of the season, with his existing deal expiring at the end of the month.
However, there is ‘now an increased chance that Partey leaves Arsenal upon the expiry of his current contract’ because the Gunners are ‘holding firm on plans to offer the same salary’ to the 32-year-old, who wants a pay rise.
Partey has ‘already held talks with Jose Mourinho at Fenerbahce, as well as new AC Milan manager Max Allegri’ as per the reports. Both clubs have tabled a prospective deal to the Ghanian and are waiting to see how things develop.
With Jorginho leaving, Arsenal were oriented towards keeping Partey and still hope they may make progress in talks. For now ‘there is a 50-50 chance that he stays’, but if not then the Rossoneri could be waiting.
Milan meanwhile are aiming to rebuild their midfield after the sale of Tijjani Reijnders to Manchester City. One of the targets talked about is another 32-year-old who played for Arsenal, the current Bayer Leverkusen star Granit Xhaka.