The Telegraph reports that Arsenal beat Chelsea to the signature of Thomas Partey in the last transfer window.
The midfielder emerged as one of the top midfielders around Europe over the past few seasons, and after the last campaign, it looked highly likely that he would leave Atletico Madrid.
Atletico knew the kind of player they had, and the Spaniards wanted to keep hold of him, but it was always going to be hard.
The report claims that Frank Lampard wanted to sign another midfielder last season as N’Golo Kante kept struggling with injuries.
The Blues identified Declan Rice as the player that they should sign, however, the West Ham man was over their budget at £80 million.
This meant that they had to look for an alternative, and it turned out to be Partey.
The Blues looked at Partey because he would cost around half of what West Ham wanted for Rice, but they were eventually beaten to his signature by Arsenal.
The Gunners will feel that they have scored a huge win over Chelsea in that deal because the midfielder has looked the part in the few games that he has played for the club.
