Atletico Madrid are bent on keeping their priceless midfielder in Thomas Teye Partey and have decided to double his wages to £130,000 a week in order to ward off interest from Arsenal.

Arsenal are in pursuit for Thomas Partey, having reportedly tabled down £43.6 million bid, which is the release clause for the signature of the Ghanaian midfielder from Atletico Madrid.

Thomas Partey has been very keen in the scheme of things of Diego Simeone this season and he has established his place in the watertight Atletico Madrid midfield.

Atletico Madrid in their quest to maintain the stability in the team have reportedly decided to double Partey's wages which will see him receive £130,000 a week.

The proposed new deal would see Partey's release clause increased to £87.2m.

Partey, a defensive midfielder, has been capped by Ghana on 27 occasions, and, at the age of 26, is approaching what should be the best years of his career.

Arsenal can already call upon Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi at the base of the midfield, but Partey, it would appear, represents a superior option.

Partey joined Atletico as a youngster in 2012 and featured for their B side before gaining experience on loan at Mallorca and Almeria.

He has now made 174 appearances for Atletico and won the Europa League in 2018.