Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is working on a tight transfer budget in the current transfer window, and he might be forced to pick between two of his midfield targets.
Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey and Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar are the top two targets for Arteta as he looks to improve the quality in his midfield.
Ideally, the Gunners boss wants to sign the two players but that might not be possible due to a lack of adequate finance to pull off the two deals. To this effect, Arteta has decided to prioritise the transfer for Houssem Aouar ahead of the Thomas Partey deal according to the report from Metro.
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Arsenal will have to sell the deadwoods in the squad to fund the moves for Aouar and Partey but that’s proving to be very difficult as they are finding it hard to offload players.
The Gunners might need to spend £130m on Partey and Aouar for their transfer fees and weekly salary.
Arteta and Arsenal will need to pay the £45m release clause in the Atletico Madrid contract of Thomas Partey to sign him, while Houssem Aouar is the subject of a £60m asking price from Lyon plus £100,000 in weekly wages.
