Arsenal have bid €50m for Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey, who is only a step away from joining, according to reports in Italy.

Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness) report that Arsenal have ‘€50m on the table’ for Thomas Partey. The 26-year-old is ‘one step away’ from a transfer to North London.

The report suggests Barcelona are trying to sign Saul from Atletico. However, the club are unwilling to sell because they’re preparing to lose Partey this summer.

A previous report from David Ornstein suggested Partey has a €50m release clause. It’s not clear whether the Italian outlet are suggesting Arsenal have actually activated that clause, or they’ve just made it clear they’re ready to do so.

Presumably, they’d have to wait for the window to open to activate it officially.

Ornstein also confirmed Arsenal’s interest in signing Partey last summer. It seems Unai Emery was pushing for the move at that point, so it’s hard to say how much that carries over.

Arsenal will probably struggle to sign Partey if they don’t pay the release clause. He’s up to 35 appearances for the current season, and Atletico are actually trying to extend his deal (from 2023 to 2025). They also want to increase the release clause.

Clearly, they don’t even think €50m is enough for him, so they’re certainly unlikely to accept less.