Arsenal transfer target was forced to issue apology after Mikel Arteta fume

Arsenal have been linked with a move for Brentford midfielder Christian Norgaard as a possible replacement for Thomas Partey as contract discussions continue.

Partey is out of contract at the end of the season but is yet to put pen-to-paper on a new deal, meaning he could potentially leave on a free transfer. football.london understand that discussions are ongoing, but an agreement is yet to be reached.

If Partey is to move on this summer, the Mirrorreport that Norgaard is one of the targets that the club may consider moving for to bolster their midfield options this summer. The 31-year-old has two years remaining on his current deal with the Bees.

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There is, however, some history with Norgaard and Arsenal. Back in April the midfielder was shown a yellow card for a tackle on Gabriel Martinelli.

The decision to not send Norgaard off left Mikel Arteta furious, with the Arsenal boss saying it was a ‘clear’ red card. After the game, he simply told reporters: “My reaction says everything."

Martinelli himself also described the tackle as ‘nasty’. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I didn;t see that again but, in my opinion, in the moment, if my foot was on the floor, then he could break my leg.

"He said he didn't mean it - I believe him - but still he could have broken my leg. For me, it was red card. I need to see it again to be sure but, for me, it was nasty."

In the day after the match, Norgaard himself revealed that he apologised for the tackle. "He accepted my apology and shook my hand,” he told the Mirror.

"He thought the tackle was maybe harder than I did, but he was fine and (Declan) Rice as well - he said it's part of football, you try and make these tackles to stop transitions and there was no evil intention in the challenge.

"Looking back at it, maybe it was a bit harder than I wanted it to be, but I would never set out to hurt any player intentionally. Sometimes you end up in situations like I did with Jordan Pickford at Everton, where I got a straight red card (which was overturned), but it was never intentional."