Mikel Arteta has admitted that he wasn’t sure if Atletico Madrid was angry with Arsenal for the nature of their move for Thomas Partey.
The Gunners waited until it was very late in the transfer window before they moved to sign the former Atletico Madrid man.
They paid his release clause only a few hours before the transfer window closed, leaving the Spaniards with no time to replace him.
Reports the next day began to claim that Atletico was extremely disappointed with Arsenal and that ties between both teams have now been severed.
However, speaking ahead of his team’s match against Manchester City this weekend, Arteta admitted that he doesn’t know if the Spaniards are truly unhappy with the Gunners, but he maintained that when your player has a release clause in his deal, you have to be prepared for a team to trigger it at any time.
‘I don’t know,’ Arteta told a press conference on whether Atletico were left annoyed by the transfer via Metro Sports.
‘When you have a release clause in your contract you assume that that situation can arise at any minute.
‘While the market is open it’s completely legal to do it. ‘We have had some communication with them prior to that as well so hopefully they can respect that action.’
