Arsenal brokered a staggering £110m deal for Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey.
They pulled off the dramatic transfer coup on deadline day by triggering Partey’s £52.5m clause written into his contract held by the Spanish football authorities.
They are also paying Partey £260,000-a-week in a four year contract with an option, £2.5m signing-on fee and ten per cent agent commission in a staggering package.
Arsenal had been trying to negotiate with Atletico all summer but knew they always had the fall back option of triggering the buy-out clause which are standard in player contracts in Spain.
That is a relatively simple process but the biggest issue was whether they had enough time to get the deal over the line.
Club lawyers have to present the cheque to pay the full transfer fee in one full amount whereas many deals are paid in instalments.
They also have to show personal terms have been agreed by acknowledgment with the player and his agent.
Then they have to have email confirmation from La Liga in time to meet the transfer deadline - which in the UK is 11pm - to complete an international transfer.
It was a huge operation and comes in the face of Arsenal making huge cuts at the club, including 55 redundancies in staff but they have spent big this summer on deals for Willian, Brazilian defender Gabriel and now Partey.
But Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has underwritten the club’s transfer business and also losses because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Kroenke again appears to have backed the club’s transfer business on Partey as it is a huge outlay on deadline day.
It is understood that Gunners boss Mikel Arteta sees Partey as a crucial final piece of his jigsaw as a strong No6 midfield anchorman to give his team and defence stability.
But Arsenal looked at Partey FOUR YEARS ago and could have signed him for a fraction of the cost now but they passed up despite strong recommendations.
Partey is regarded as a strong presence in midfield, Arteta likes his range of passing and also his ability to break up play in front of the defence.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: “We have been watching Thomas for a while, so we’re now delighted to add such a high quality player to our squad.
“He is a dynamic midfielder with great energy. He brings a lot of experience from a top club that has competed at the highest level in La Liga and the Champions League for several years.
"We’re very impressed with his attitude and his approach to the game. He’s an intelligent footballer and we’re looking forward to him integrating into our system and contributing to the progress we’re building at the moment at the club.”
Technical director Edu added: “Thomas has all the right attributes to be a top player for Arsenal. He is a leader on and off the pitch and he is exactly the kind of player and person we want at the club.
“We already feel like we know Thomas very well based on the work we have done analysing his performances closely in recent times.
"With his all-round game and positive aggressive style, he will be a brilliant addition to our squad. We’ve made a strong start to the season and we want to continue to build on this with Thomas now part of our club.”
It is a remarkable coup for Arsenal who had been chasing the Ghana international all summer. Arteta had made Partey his No1 target as a midfield anchorman but Atletico refused to budge despite negotiating a deal for Lucas Torreira from the Emirates.
But Arsenal pulled off a dramatic deadline day swoop after only going back for Partey to trigger his clause on deadline day.
Partey was desperate to join Arsenal and the midfielder and his representatives pushed for the deal which is another piece for the jigsaw at the Emirates.
Meanwhile, Matteo Guendouzi joined Hertha Berlin on a season-long loan to help ease the wage bill.
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