Arsenal was chasing the 21-year-old during the transfer window but decided to choose Thomas Partey when Houssem Aoaur rejected their deal. The Gunners failed to provide a lucrative offer to the Lyon player whilst their search for a good centre-midfielder. Lyon was demanding a minimum of £55.5million to part with their star player and Arsenal’s several offers were rejected as none of them could meet the asking price and seeing as the deal had reached an impasse Emirates did not wish to lose out on Partey either who has been their target for two years and signed a £45m release clause in Partey’s contract for five years. Aoaur was left with no option but to stay at Lyon with the interest of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain for next year.