One would imagine that Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has done enough to extend his time at Arsenal, which was to end next summer.
On June 30th, 2025, Partey’s current Arsenal contract will expire. If he doesn’t receive a new contract offer from the club by then, he’ll probably start talking to other clubs with a view to leaving.
He has so far this season produced exceptional performances, either in midfield or as a right-back. Performances plus his availability (he seems to have shaken off his injury struggles) throughout this season have earned him a deal at the Emirates Stadium.
Arteta not long ago touched on whether they were working on a new deal for Partey. Well, the Daily Mail is now claiming the Ghanaian international could be leaving Arsenal at the end of the season.
The publication claims that although the Arsenal star has proven he can stay fit and has made 21 appearances for the club in all competitions, which is 5 more apps than he made last season, the club doesn’t feel they need to urgently tie him to a new deal.
The club, though, needs to tie him to a new deal soon if they don’t want to lose him to another top European side. Come January 1st, Partey could enter into a pre-contract agreement with clubs not in the Premier League who dream of him joining them after his Arsenal deal expires.
All that said, it has now emerged that Arsenal are on the market for a new central midfielder and already have their eyes on some targets. Well, if I were to guess which players Arsenal is looking at, I don’t think I’ll be wrong in singling out Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Brighton’s Carlos Baleba. The two are some of the finest midfield prospects the Premier League has to offer.
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The sad thing is we have been denied the best midfield pair in the league. Last year with injury and this year by Arteta. Partey and Rice together could have been our modern Petit and Vierra. Our best ever midfield.
They’ve been playing together though,except for instances where the injury crisis at RB has forced Partey to play there. They didn’t exactly set the world alight playing together.
Personally,I think both players are at their best in the number 6 – Rice clearly had one of his best games this season against Monaco. Playing both will always mean one will be in a position he isn’t comfortable with,unless we go back to a double pivot like in the days of Vieira. In Arteta’s system,it’s one of the fullbacks who forms a pivot with the 6.
Onyango,
Injury crisis or not, there was never a need to play Partey at right back.
Timber should play there all the time. And before you reply that Timber didn’t start the other night, he was in the bench, so he was obviously fit to play.
When you play Partey at right back, your weakening the midfield when you don’t need to.
DEREK,I’m no Sports doctor but from what I’ve read,the minutes of a player coming from a serious injury like Timber should be carefully managed. A player being on the bench doesn’t always mean they are fit to play 90. Sometimes it is determined beforehand that they should be subbed in to play 15 or 30 minutes. It’s called load management in sports. They’ve been doing that with Calafiori too.
In the absence of White,you can’t expect Timber to play entire games every three days. What happens if we lose him to a long term injury because we aren’t managing his minutes? If you insist that Partey can’t play there,that leaves Timber as the only player without cover in the team,unless you count young Josh Nichols who I don’t think is ready for first team yet.
Onyango,
I did respond to your post, but for some reason it was removed.
At the end of my piece, I said that we were going to have to agree to disagree on the point you made, on this occasion.
And at the end I said my friend, with the emojis’😉👍.
Now as far as I know, my piece didn’t have anything nasty written in it, but for some reason it’s been removed.
So, I’m completely baffled as to why that happened to be honest.
Onyango,
I must be having a brain freeze day today.
Forget the above post, I’ve just found it on another page.
My apologies to Admin to.
I dont agree, our midfield has been one of the best, when they have been paired. Our manager is the first one to break them up and to play Partas a RB is criminal. Those two in midfield have been hard for teams to play against. It is easier when they are separated. You cant name me a better pair, for us or any other team. Don’t say Rodri and De Bruyne, DB is a number 10.
So who would you play at RB if Timber isn’t fit? Havertz? Saka? Perharps Sterling? Maybe the young goalkeeper Setford?
I wasn’t going to name a pair because we don’t play like that. Technically we play with a lone 6 and two 8s,so a trio. I would say Chelsea have had the best midfield trio so far with Caicedo,Enzo/Lavia and Palmer.
What sort of reply is that? Whoever you play there, he should not ever be Partey. If you think it is a good decision to move you best midfielder, then its not worth debating. Against Fulham, Timber was fit, he came on, MLS was fit, he was on the bench and played the next game. What crap are you talking about. The point is, You don’t mive Partey. There are many things he could or can do to cover for any injury, why move the team about to cover ONE position?
Both Pathey and DR are 6 and in our system it means one is playing out of position playing together. Rice versatility is what makes their combination possible and it’s the same versatility that makes partey an option at RB … It’s quite simple really
I think he should get an extension if the terms from the player are reasonable. That said,if the club is set on letting him go,it should not be too hard to find a suitable replacement because I think the midfielder market is filled with many talents in the EPL and abroad,as opposed to the striker market which isn’t great at the moment.
I disagree it would be easy to find a replacement – very few players as good as partey in that 6 role. Plenty of ball winners out there, not many who are so press resistant and have such a good eye for a pass.
If Partey is allowed to leave for nothing, what would it cost to find a replacement as good as him?
He’s over his injury pro, as he’s played five more games this season already versus last season (I think that’s correct) and he’s one of our top three players.
I’m not going to question MA anymore, especially after that performance against Monaco, and all the injuries he had.
I will just say, to take Partey out of the midfield and switch Timber from RB to LB is something I wouldn’t do!!
Ken1945,
Seconded.👍
Baleba is the more versatile of the 2, and more of a B2B type that we need.
Rice shines at DM, 2nd best only behind Rodri. Puzzling why a top DM gets shifted to be an average CM.
Rice as our 6, Baleba and Odegaard as the 8s would be a good midfield next year.
Add a striker to that list and swap Jesus out for another winger and we are much stronger overall.
I agree with you about Rice, he is better at 6 than 8. We will probably see more of Rice, Merino and Odegaard as the season progresses.
I am expecting Jorghinho to go and I hope we retain Partey for one more season. We kept Elneny for the longest time, but his wages were much less.
Little mention of how Merino fits into Arteta’s plans?Do we need another left footed midfielder with Merino and Zinchenko in place or will the latter be moved on along with Jesus, Tomi and KT?.
Grandad
We haven’t seen Zinchenko play in midfield; think that is about as likely as seeing Tierney start at LB in a big non domestic cup game.
Zinchenko is injured yet again after just getting a start. Time to move on from him, especially with MLS showing real promise when given a chance.
Zinchenko has fallen further down the LB list with Calafiori joining, and wouldn’t you rather see MLS developing than Zinchenko getting those minutes? What’s best for the team IMO is developing a promising talent as 3rd choice LB rather than clinging on to an injury prone midfielder ill suited to the defensive responsibilities of LB.
As for Merino, the jury is still out IMO, and while he has shown improvement, I don’t see anything yet of being starter material. Perhaps he will improve further, but seems more like a stop gap until either Nwaneri or MLS steps up and gains Arteta’s trust.
Durand,
I agree with what you say, well put.