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Arsenal decided to meet the release clause for Thomas Partey in a deadline day act of transfer brinkmanship.
The Gunners had long been linked with a move for the Ghanaian international, but the stumbling block had always been the fee.
His release clause was €50 million, and Atlético Madrid refused to budge from that, despite various attempts to negotiate them downwards, or to offer players in part exchange.
Lucas Torreira has gone the other way on loan, but that is a completely separate arrangement.
Instead, faced with a fan backlash over the lack of summer signings, with other main target Houssem Aouar now staying at Lyon, the Gunners hierarchy finally blinked and informed La Liga of the decision to meet his release clause.
Partey had his medical in Madrid on Monday afternoon, and will meet up with his new teammates after the international break.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.