Arsenal remain in talks with the representatives of Thomas Partey over a potential transfer this summer, according to a report.

Chris Wheatley, formerly of Goal and now writing for Gooner Talk, claims Arsenal remain in talks for Partey. The midfielder has a €50m release clause, and he’s also drawing interest from clubs around Europe like Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.

Wheatley adds that Partey expects to double his salary after his transfer, which would bring it to £130,000-a-week. Not exactly cheap, but also not out of Arsenal’s range.

Mikel Arteta is reportedly keen to address Arsenal’s lack of physicality in midfield this summer. The situation is particularly dire in central midfield as Dani Ceballos will return to Real Madrid and Lucas Torreira is open to a return to Italy.

Partey would certainly help on that front. The Gunners may need to get creative with the deal structure to make it happen, or hope they complete the Premier League season higher up the table. But it appears the talks with the player are genuine, at least.

For those of you who don’t remember Chris, he was one of the more reliable Arsenal journalists during his time at Goal. He left to set up social media representation agency D2S. As a result, we haven’t heard as many transfer stories from him recently.

This would be a good one to come back with, assuming it leads to something.