Former Arsenal defender, Nigel Winterburn, believes that Arsenal will find it difficult to sign Partey due to the reported interest from Barcelona.
The 27-year-old midfielder has been targeted by Arsenal for sometime now and according to reports, the Gunners have agreed personal terms with him.
The hurdle will be to find an agreement with Atletico Madrid for the fee. The Spanish side have been adamant on the 50 million euro release clause in the player's contract. Also, Barcelona have entered the race according to reports.
In an interview with bookmakers, Winterburn expressed his concern.
“I’m always a little bit worried when the likes of Barcelona are also interested in your target – even when they’re in disarray – because they’re a huge club and you don’t want to be fighting them for a player, because most clubs would lose out in that situation."
“From my point of view, I’ve always said the structure right through the centre of the team is so pivotal to how a team plays.
“You need strong players straight through the middle – centre-halves, central midfielders and your centre-forwards – they really need to be of a very high standard at this level."
“Arsenal need to look at those areas and Thomas Partey has been linked with a host of clubs, including Arsenal."
“If Barcelona’s interest is genuine, then I think it was always going to be very difficult for Arsenal to sign him,” he concluded.