Why Arsenal are desperate to sign Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal continue their work in the transfer market and are still looking to finalise the deal to bring in Atletico’s Thomas Partey.

In the ongoing summer transfer window, Arsenal have signed Willian on a free transfer, Gabriel Magalhaes from Lille, and Runar Alex Runarsson from Dijon. However, Arsenal have failed to strengthen their midfield with new signings.

They have only re-signed Dani Ceballos on a loan deal from Real Madrid. With Mikel Arteta and Matteo Guendouzi on different pages, Arsenal’s midfield looks porous at the moment. This is one of the major reasons behind Arteta’s pursuit of the Ghanian international.

On Wednesday, Arsenal’s midfielder Lucas Torreira agreed to personal terms with Spanish outfit Atletico Madrid. The trustworthy, Fabrizio Romano broke the news on Twitter.

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According to multiple outlets, Mikel Arteta has named Thomas Partey as a priority signing this summer. The midfielder has been rock solid for Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid since his move from Almeria in 2015.

The player is an integral part of Simeone’s team and featured 35 times for Rojiblancos in the 2019/20 season. However, Atleti are on the verge of losing the player for free with just a year left on his current contract. Moreover, he rejected a new deal offered by the La Liga side at the beginning of the month.

Last season, for Atletico, Partey scored three goals during his 35 appearances. Also, the player completed over 1350 successful passes throughout the season. When compared to his probable future colleagues at the Emirates, the Ghanian international has fared far better on multiple fronts.

Though his passing accuracy is less compared to that of Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos, Thomas Partey has completed 2.1 take-ons per game. The Gunners midfielders and defenders were accused of their frailties on the pitch as they collectively failed to contain the opposition.

The stats depicts the same. Compared to Partey’s 2.1 take-ons per game, Ceballos has 1.5 and Matteo Guendouzi has 1.3 per game.

Partey is a rock-solid defensive midfielder who loves to take on the opposition. May it be ground duels or aerial, the 27-year-old has bossed the pitch. The player’s success ratio in the air and on the ground tells the story.

He falls below in terms of interceptions and blocks and it is because of the number of games played in the Spanish top-flight. Thomas has featured 35 times as previously mentioned whereas Guendouzi and Ceballos have only featured in 24 games and Lucas Torreira in 29.

Atletico Madrid’s finances have been hit badly because of the pandemic and are looking to balance their books by selling a host of players. For a player of Thomas Partey’s stature, Atleti are willing to accept £45 million (the release clause amount) and are open to selling Hector Herrera too.

With an opportunity lurking around for Arsenal, they shouldn’t waste further time in negotiating a deal for the midfielder who can single-handedly strengthen Arsenal’s midfield.