Arsenal: Why Thomas Partey's move from Atletico Madrid got messy - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54436768

In reality, they were well aware this had been more than just a possibility.

Why? Because the negotiations for a new contract with Partey had broken down a long time ago.

Atletico offered 3.5m euros net per year before the coronavirus pandemic, but that was rejected. And after football resumed the message from the club was that they could not afford even that.

The fact is that Partey felt he had been badly treated by Atletico. He was the worst-paid player in the squad, with a modest 1.8m euros net per year, and he felt he deserved more, considering that by the summer he had played at least 42 games over the previous three seasons.

Atletico are, in reality, more upset with him than they are with Arsenal.