Fabrizio Romano has taken to Twitter to confirm that Geoffrey Kondogbia will move from Valencia to Atletico Madrid to replace Thomas Partey.
Partey left Atletico on transfer deadline day to sign for Arsenal, leaving Diego Simeone thin in the middle of the park and with no time to rectify it.
Thankfully for the Argentine, La Liga allow teams to sign players outside of the transfer window as long as they are either playing for a La Liga club or without one entirely.
MORE: Barcelona facing new year bankruptcy threat over player salaries
That applies to Geoffrey Kondogbia, a player with a similar profile to Partey who plays for Valencia. As per Fabrizio Romano on Twitter, he will soon sign for Atletico.
Geoffrey Kondogbia to Atlético Madrid, here we go! Final fee to Valencia will be €11m + 10% future sale + add ons. Personal terms also agreed. Official soon.
He’ll join Atléti immediatly as Thomas replacement [special rule by La Liga]. ??? #Atleti #transfers @MatteMoretto
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 31, 2020
If the figures included in Romano’s tweet are correct, Atleti look to have bagged themselves a bargain replacement for Partey there.
Whether Kondogbia can adapt to life at the Wanda Metropolitano and fill the void left by the Ghanian remains to be seen, but on the face of it, this looks to be a low-risk, potentially high-reward move from Atletico.