There are so many things to love about football, but the unrelenting pettiness of those who run football clubs often goes under the radar, especially in the transfer market.
We’ve seen it so many times that clubs will happily trade with each other if they remain on good terms, but as soon as things get a bit prickly then negotiations can be tough.
Mundo Deportivo have reported on the latest with Atletico Madrid’s hunt to sign Lucas Torreira from Arsenal, but it looks like they would rather sell him to anyone else.
READ MORE: Arsenal could still add two midfielders as Aouar approach made and veteran midfielder is released
The reason for this goes back to Atleti’s stance over Thomas Partey when Arsenal were trying to sign him. The Spanish giants were solid in their negotiating stance and refused to concede any ground to Arsenal when it came to his release fee.
Of course that’s fine and they are within their rights to do that, but it now looks like Arsenal are being very unaccommodating in the talks over Torreira’s sale, so he might not move to Spain after all.
They even suggest that Torino have shown an interest and the player would happily return to Serie A, so Atleti’s chances aren’t looking good at this point.
That’s not “pettiness,” it’s negotiation tactics. Atletico refuse to budge on the release clause number for Partey and want Torreira on a cheap loan with no requirement to buy. Arsenal want a lower price for Partey and an actual purchase for Torreira, with the money up front. Fair enough on both sides. Hopefully both deals can get done. I think Torreira is perfect for a Simeone side, and Arsenal would benefit greatly from a force like Partey ((whom I personally prefer to Aouar).
Yes this transfer tactics is getting interesting by the day.
It’s a 50/50 affair period!
Let them give us thomas then we give to them lucas surely its gonna be partey time at the emirates very soon