Arteta wants ‘super important’ Arsenal man to stay amid Saudi links; ‘lots of ins and outs’ expected

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said Thomas Partey is “without a question of a doubt” a part of his plans for the upcoming season.

Partey has been linked with a move away from the Emirates this summer with clubs in Saudi Arabia and Italy keeping tabs on his situation.

It has been reported that the former Atletico Madrid midfielder is open on a transfer to Serie A, while Saudi clubs are believed to willing to pay €40million.

Rumours of an exit have died down in recent weeks and now Arteta has emphasised his desire to keep hold of Partey.

Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s pre-season friendly against Manchester United in New Jersey, the Spanish manager was asked if the Ghanaian international is in his plans for 2023/24.

He replied: “Yes. Without a question of a doubt. Thomas is a super important player for us and for me. I want him to be part of the team. That’s for sure.

“Every time I spoke to him and had a conversation with him he’s ready to stay with us. For me, there’s nothing there at all.”

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Arsenal spending £105m on Declan Rice suggested Partey was on the chopping block, but Arteta insists they can operate together in the same midfield.

“They can play together,” he explained. “That was in my plans.

“If you want to improve the squad and have more quality you need players that can improve the squad and players in the same position that can fight for the same places.

“It’s something that we haven’t had in the last few years. We wanted to improve that. That’s why we bought Declan as well.”

One player who is expected to depart is Nicolas Pepe, who was the club’s record signing at £72m before the recent acquisition of Rice.

On the Ivorian winger, who did not travel to the United States with his teammates, Arteta said: “At the moment he’s recovering from an injury. That’s why he’s not here.

“He had a spell on loan and we wanted to get more from that loan spell.

“We’ll have to see when he comes back. Have a chat with him. Understand what he plans are and make a decision.

Arteta also gave an exciting update on his plans for the rest of the summer transfer window.

On if fans can expect any more signings, he replied: “I don’t know. There will be movement still. There will be a lot of ins and outs. It’s still very early.

“Obviously the last week has been a bit quiet. If we can try and improve the team we’ll do so. But we don’t want to get any weaker so we have to be sure of that as well.

“We are so happy with the players that we signed and the ones in our squad.”

Paris Saint-Germain have reportedly put Kylian Mbappe up for sale and Arteta was asked if Arsenal have what it takes to land the French superstar.

“You know I never talk about players that are not part of our team,” he responded.

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