I think we’re in a bit of a problem situation in that Partey is almost a sunk asset due to his injury record. No one is paying big money for him at his age/injury status/contract status not to mention potential attitude flaws that have been discussed over the past year or so.

However, quality defensive midfielders don’t grow on trees and it would take a huge amount of money that we don’t have after the Rice deal to either sign a direct Partey replacement (Zubamendi?) or fully commit to Rice as the CDM and go and sign a proper replacement for Granit Xhaka.

Realistically another cash cow must be found. You could sell Ramsdale, sign a cheaper backup keeper and use the cash to fund a midfielder deal. You could also sell ESR who might not need a direct replacement as we already have Odegaard, Havertz and Vieira covering attacking central midfield roles plus Trossard who could play inside too.