In Arsenal’s 4-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night, Thomas Partey demonstrated his talent. Although there were expected bids for the Ghana international, whose contract with Arsenal expires next summer, he is more likely to stay.
After a tremendous run in the last five games of last season, anchoring the Arsenal midfield for five straight wins, then captaining Ghana in two post-season World Cup qualifiers, and still being fit to play a key role in the preseason, one can argue he’s found a way to sustain his fitness.
Despite having a lukewarm preseason, he was outstanding against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night. He didn’t start the game and came on as a late substitution, but he looked much more agile in his 28 minutes for Arsenal against Leverkusen, and he had a burst of speed that we hadn’t seen in a long time.
Partey is just something else; his understanding of the lone 6 role is extraordinary. He literally dominates the entire midfield, and his passing skills (both short and long range) are incredible. With Partey on the pitch, Rice and Odegaard play higher forward, unlike when he’s replaced by Jorginho, when the two end up dropping deeper. If we want to smother teams and score more goals, Partey is the No. 6 we should look to next season.
Some Gooners aren’t thrilled that we’re keeping him, but they don’t realise that when he’s fit, he has special traits that can help Arsenal. His availability next season will be crucial for Arsenal’s title bid.
Jack Anderson
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Absolutely. He is far to talented to let go this season. Just because he had a bad season with last season with injuries doesn’t mean it will be the same this coming season.
Even if he plays a dozen matches it’s worth it because he is an amazing midfielder
When he’s fit, he’s good no doubt about that. As with Jesus though, we know that we can’t rely upon that fitness across a season.
Overall, I think it’s good we’ve still got him for 2024-25, possibly the key season for Arteta, but he’ll almost certainly be on his way next summer when his contract expires.
I will much rather keep Partey for one more year due to how important our goals are this season than sell him for probably £20m. That money is too small to make us jeopardize our midfield and let’s be honest, it will not buy anyone close to his quality as a replacement
Hes worth keeping. We don’t have to play him every game especially if we get Merino over the line.
Hopefully, “If we get Merino over the line” won’t be Edu’s epitaph given the time it’s taking, but Merino will be of great help should or probably when Partey gets injured.
We should only keep him if no one else is signed as only a matter of time same with Jesud until they are injured again I wish Edu would get a move on and make new signings of a striker and midfield too You cant win the league in first half dozen games but you can lose it
It’s incredible that since he’s been with Arsenal he’s had Hip, Ankle, Hamstring, Thigh, Groin, and various muscle and knock injuries. In his prior senior career with AM going back to 2013 he had 2 Hamstring injuries and that’s it. Did he all of a sudden breakdown and get old 4 years ago or maybe he signed a side contract with the Arsenal physios?
In any case, he’s too good to let go for peanuts so keep him and play him enough to keep him sharp. I believe we have sufficient ability to adjust if necessary to any unexpected absences at this point. Who knows maybe someone will solve the mystery.
Arteta’s training methods also have to be looked at. More often his players don’t get injured in open play but rather during training!
Perhaps. It is distressing to me that more people apparently haven’t done the leg work to look at these unexplained injuries to determine what is going wrong and take proactive rather than reactive measures against them. It was so terrible what Santi went through while he dealt with the incompetent so-called professionals.
If we are getting Merino then make sense to keep Partey so Merino can slowly fit in and learn from him
If Guimares comes as part of a swap deal with Ramsdale then we can afford to let Partey go as Guimares already knows the PL
Let’s see what twists and turns the next couple of weeks take !
There is hardly any midfielder that can match Partey at his best. His profile is very unique. If he stays fit this season and plays near his best, we are winning the league folks, even with last year’s squad. He is that good.
I hope he have had time to recover and strengthen well for this season.
Absolutely agree.
I agree too.
The best number sixes move the ball forward quickly and with creativity but also add defensive steel. Rice has not really fot the passing ability and Jorginho does not cover the defensive side as well.
If there has been a good candidate to replace him then it may have been worth moving Partey on but we may as well keep him, rotate him with Jorginho and hope that younger players learn from their quality.
👍 Astute observations.
Keep Partey and get Merino so we have two traditional no. 6 in Partey and Jorginho and two versatile no. 8 in Rice and Merino who can also play the holding midfield role. We would have a very good midfield thereby.
If he gets back to the form of the 22/23 season and stays fit then he’s a first 11 player and the team is undoubtedly better with him in it. I just worry if the last few years of incessant injury will have taken their toll and getting back to that kind of form is now beyond him. Hopefully not as he is a brilliant player when at his best.
Party is skillful,he controls the whole midfield
He knows what to do in a particular time
Partey must stay, he is a brilliant player
If merino is coming, then what is the importance of keeping partey? Sell him please.
See nabilo’s comment – Merino might be a very good midfielder, but he’s not a specialist midfield anchor like partey or jorginho – his passing isn’t good enough. He’s more like rice – well rounded and has the legs to support in both boxes. Zubimendi might have been a good replacement for partey, but he didn’t want to join
With Partey we forget when fit is one of the best midfielders in the world. Id definitely keep him at the club, the versatility to play 6 or 8 is what we missed last season. I was so looking forward to a Partey, Rice and Odegaard midfield last season but it only happened right at the end.
With Calafiore coming in, our back 4 looks incredible, With Merino we have such a good midfield. We worry about bringing a striker in but we score so many goals every season across the team. I worry with an out an out striker would his greed to score lose us more goals than it’s worth, having one man who scored 25+ might lose us 30 goals across the team. For this reason I get why Arteta is reluctant to sign someone, we need a striker with Henry-esqe attitude. Having a desire to both score and assist, there is nobody in to he world right now who has that mindset apart from Havertz for me.
A no brainer. Keep him but make sure Arteta doesn’t break him and manages his load properly. He can’t start every game, not even twice a week. He can be an extremely important late substitution when defending a lead. Arteta needs to learn to rotate Odegaard, Rice, Partey, Jorginho and hopefully Merino for the 3 spots……and I’d loan out Viera to a club that will play him every day (in Portugal?)