Arsenal: Thomas Partey requires more than money

Arsenal’s midfield is shaping up nicely, but according to reports, they want more, and Thomas Partey is the ‘more.’ But he needs a lot to make sense.

Arsenal are clicking in a lot of ways, but the way that keeps my heart fluttering is their competent, cohesive midfield unit that is unflappable (excluding the Everton match) and capable of controlling a game via stuffing opposing attacks and throwing attacks in the opposite direction.

Thus far, Unai Emery has utilized a 4-2-3-1 almost entirely, meaning that Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira have become the showcase of the midfield. As a pair, they have everything we could ask for and then some.

However, Emery has also experimented with the 4-4-2 and the 3-4-3, but the same set-up ends up happening – Xhaka and Torreira sit deep and control the flow.

It’s worked so well, with Matteo Guendouzi and Ainsley Maitland-Niles primed as the future of the position and Mohamed Elneny serving as the floater, that I’m actually surprised to see them linked with another midfielder – Thomas Partey.

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The Ghanaian midfielder has been fantastic with Atletico Madrid in a defensive capacity and has developed a reputation as an effective bruiser. It’s not the first time he’s been linked with a move to the Emirates either. In the drought of defensive midfielders that finally ended with Lucas Torreira, Partey was seen as a realistic and wholesome solution.

Nowadays, with Torreira at the club and so many other parties vying for those positions, I don’t see where Partey fits into the mix, not even considering how much money he is going to cost as one of the more exciting defensive midfield talents out there.

Forgetting about then money entirely, the Gunners would have to change their formation to accommodate him. A three-midfield set, with Xhaka flanked by Torreira and Partey, could work wonders and further emphasize a growing strength on this club. Of course, the problem may arise in that being too much defense in the midfield, but if Torreira can develop his offensive skills a bit, as he seems capable of doing, then maybe the dynamism in this potential trio is there for the taking.

I don’t see why Partey would be needed, nor why he would even want the move, if Torreira and Xhaka continue on the path that they’re on, where they’re doing so good that to mess with it would be a mistake. Unless Partey wants to take the Elneny role of being a floater, but that would be a downgrade.