Arsenal have had a second bid for Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey rejected, claims The Guardian.
The Gunners had an opening offer of €25m (£23.8m) turned down by Atletico, who insist they will not allow the midfielder to leave for anything less than his €50m (£45.5m) release clause.
Arsenal have since returned with an improved proposal, including out of favour midfielder Mateo Guendouzi, in addition to the same fee, as part of the deal.
Mikel Arteta wants to sell Guendouzi this summer in order to boost his transfer budget or use the highly rated midfielder as bait in potential swap deals.
However, Atletico have rebuffed Arsenal's latest move for their sought-after midfielder and are still in the process of trying to extend Partey's contract.
Atletico want to reward Partey with improved terms to reflect his growing role at the club and also increase his buy-out clause.
Partey has two years left to run on his current Atletico deal and is reportedly now favouring a new contract having previously considered a move to Arsenal.
Having struggled for regular playing time at Atletico in the past, this season saw Partey become a key member of Simeone'e squad, racking up more minutes on the pitch in the league than ever before.
Partey was particularly impressive in Atletico's surprise victory over Liverpool in the Champions League knockout phase pre-lockdown.
Surprisingly, however, Partey committed the most errors leading to an opposition shot on goal in LaLiga this season (7).
