Arsenal have been told they must pay the buyout clause of Thomas Partey's contract to sign the Atletico Madrid midfielder.
Partey is under contract at the Wanda Metropolitano until the end of the 2022-23 season.
With three seasons still to run on his Atleti deal, the club are in no hurry to sell him cheaply.
Now Arsenal must pay £45m or miss out on him.
And European transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed: "[Regarding] Thomas: Atletico told again... release clause (€50M) or he'll stay."