Arsenal ready to listen to offers for Thomas Partey as £45m transfer closes in on a YEAR out injured

ARSENAL are ready to listen to offers for the injury-prone Thomas Partey in January.

The defensive midfielder, 30, is in his fourth season with the Gunners after a £45million move from Atletico Madrid.

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Thomas Partey is set to leave Arsenal in January[/caption]

The 30-year-old Ghana international is likely to be ruled out of action for the rest of the year after suffering a thigh problem in training last week.

And his latest spell on the sidelines has accelerated plans to cash in on a player who has now missed 57 games and been unavailable for 296 days.

Partey is one of Arsenal’s highest paid players on £200,000-a-week and has a contract which runs to 2025.

He was one of Mikel Arteta’s first major signings for the club but has rarely been available for consistent selection due to a long-running series of muscular injuries.

One of the reasons Arsenal broke the bank for £105million club record signing Declan Rice last summer was because Arteta felt he could no longer rely on Partey’s availability.

Tonight’s Champions League clash with Sevilla will be the 11th game which Partey has missed this season and Arteta has admitted that his constant absences are: “A big concern.”

Even if the player can achieve his target of a New Year’s comeback, he is due to head to the Ivory Coast for the African Cup of Nations in January.

And that has persuaded the club to cash in during the next transfer window after initially planning to look for a buyer next summer.

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Italian giants Juventus are keen to sign Partey and there has been interest from a number of Saudi Arabian clubs this year.

And though Partey has indicated that he wants to continue playing in Europe, Arsenal hope that the Saudi interest will allow them to get as much as £30million when they begin transfer talks.

He has five goals in 104 games for Arsenal and played a key role in last season’s thrilling title challenge.

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