Former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn thinks his old club might be beaten to summer target Thomas Partey.
Recent reports have suggested Barcelona may be interested in the Atletico Madrid midfielder, and that could cause some headaches for the Gunners who have chased Partey all summer.
In fact, if Barca's interest is genuine, it's rather unlikely Partey will wind up at the Emirates Stadium, or at least according to former former defender Winterburn.
"I’m always a little bit worried when the likes of Barcelona are also interested in your target – even when they’re in disarray – because they’re a huge club and you don’t want to be fighting them for a player, because most clubs would lose out in that situation," he told Bookmakers.co.uk.
“From my point of view, I’ve always said the structure right through the centre of the team is so pivotal to how a team plays.
“You need strong players straight through the middle – centre-halves, central midfielders and your centre-forwards – they really need to be of a very high standard at this level.
“Arsenal need to look at those areas and Thomas Partey has been linked with a host of clubs, including Arsenal.
"If Barcelona’s interest is genuine, then I think it’s going to be very difficult for Arsenal to sign him.”
With three years remaining on his contract in the Spanish capital, Partey is said to be valued at around £45million.
Arsenal are still favourites to land the defensive midfielder, but reports claims several offers have already been rejected for the Ghana international.
