Atletico reject €9 million offer from Watford for Thomas Partey

Watford have reportedly had a €9 million offer for Thomas Partey turned down. The Premier League club managed by former Atletico Madrid manager Quique Sánchez Flores is said to be very interested in taking the 22 year old to the Premier League but Diego Simeone has big plans for the Ghanian and his future in Spain.

Simeone understands the importance of the Ghanaian following two impressive performances off the bench against Rayo Vallecano and Levante and wants to keep him at the Calderon as the club continue to challenge Barcelona for the La Liga title.

Partey told the club's official website, following his important winning goal against Levante last weekend, that "everyone is here to play. The team is a good one and anyone can come in and help the team. You just have to be happy to win, "I still need to learn things and I am still in the learning stage. I'm happy with how it is going."

While Thomas' chances were limited in the opening four months of the season in which he did not feature once in La Liga, he has continued to garner attention following the injury to Tiago Mendes in the middle of the field for Atletico. He has played 115 minutes in La Liga, which is second fewest with only substitute goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya behind him in this category. That is set to change, however, following the last couple of games.

There is a very realistic possibility that Atletico will let Thomas leave on loan this winter with Getafe seemingly very interested in his services but, at this point, allowing him to leave on a permanent deal is something Simeone and Atletico Madrid are very keen to avoid.