FinnGooner
Established Member
I get that though I don't understand how you can be so positive with everything that's going on.
Thing is though Aulas is firm and easy to deal with, he will gadly sell but only at his terms. He doesn't negotiate.
Atletico seems to be the same. Partey has a clause they think is reasonable and it is, although a bit heavy to walk into the room and pay it all at once.
We don't any leverage and not a lot of cash to save in these deals. But the season is around the corner and it's crucial we get going from day one if we should have a chance at top four.
Holding on and annoy the **** out of the seller for 5 weeks to potentially save 5 mill can quickly cost a ton more.
I think this is exactly the problem. I think Edu and Arteta simply don't have the green light from the club to pay the full sum in one payment. We're financially in dire straits and for this season we already have installments to pay on Pepe deal as well as Özil's last year of contract in addition to whatever signings we bring in.
I still think we have a shot at Partey, though. He's 27 and if he's not signing a new contract he's only going to lose value going forward. On top of that, I doubt any team will pay his release clause in one payment in the post COVID market. None of the team who can do that seem to be interested atm. Atleti know all this but they still have 5 weeks to wait for PSG or similar to get interested so they are in no hurry to budge on the single payment demand just yet.
But you are right in that waiting 'til the end of the window might have detrimental effect on our season. However, apart from the away game at Anfield, I think we can win all the other games before the transfer DL even with our current squad. I think Arteta counts on it as well which is why we haven't gone aggressively for our secondary targets. I think Arteta really wants Partey and is willing to wait.