Thomas Partey is happy at Atletico Madrid and seems to have no real desire to leave despite Unai Emery watching him in Atletico Madrid’s final game of the season.

In this land of nonsense we call the summer transfer window, there was some excitement when Unai Emery was spotted in the crowd at the weekend’s game between the Madrid side and Levante.

Partey has been linked with Arsenal for a couple of months now after a source close to the player claimed he would be interested in a Premier League move, something Partey himself admitted last summer. Those links resurfaced again this week, as the player’s agent confirmed (via The S*n) that his client has a release clause in his contract.

“There’s a €50m (£43.5m) release clause in his contract, a figure that’s cheap for a player like Thomas,” Daniel Jimenez said. “We’ll wait for the season to end and then we’ll see.”

The player, however, is telling a somewhat different story.

“It’s hard for me to talk about transfers because the next minute it will be like ‘Thomas is trying to leave’ but for me playing football is what makes me happy,” the 25-year-old told BBC Sport.

“I keep saying I am lucky to be at this level now because I know people who play harder and worker harder than me but are nowhere close to being here.

“I don’t know what the future holds for me but as long as I play and they are happy with me here then there is no need flirting with others.

“So the only thing that would make me unhappy will be not playing. I think most footballers can relate that not playing is the greatest torture any professional footballer can go through.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptzZo6JkpU4

Thomas’s best work comes off the ball. He’s fantastic at making interceptions and tackles to win possession back but he’s also more than capable at making things happen once he’s won it.

His current contract runs until 2023 and this season he scored three and assisted six from 42 appearances as a defensive midfielder.