Arsenal: You either love Thomas Partey or you love Thomas Partey

Arsenal’s deep midfield is in a pretty good place, but if we’re going to start talking about Thomas Partey, well, then maybe it could get better.

I was very happy with how well Arsenal‘s midfield turned up this year. It’s been such a point of concern over the past decade that I’d forgotten what a difference it made to really control the middle of the pitch.

Granit Xhaka has always only been just one man, devoid of a good partner, but this year he was finally given a good partner in Lucas Torreira, and bonus points when it was a midfield three with Matteo Guendouzi.

This was a midfield that won matches. And when Aaron Ramsey factored in, it was more of the same. A lot of dynamism, a lot of control, a lot of energy. It was then midfield we’ve been waiting on for quite some time.

Going into this summer, if we don’t buy any deep midfielders, I’d be okay. We definitely need creative midfielders, but the Xhaka/Guendouzi/Torreira trio is dynamic and maybe we could use a rotational option or something, but no worries if not.

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That is, until Thomas Partey comes back into the conversation. Which he just did, with his father admitting that his son would love to play in England.

Partey has always been a dream pairing with Arsenal. And if you want to see how serious of a dream he is, consider that even with Torreira now here, the idea of him coming to Arsenal is still just as appetizing as it was before we got Torreira.

Partey is a wrecker. A big, strong, energetic wrecker who has zero fears and a whole lot of ferocity to burn. I don’t care what the midfield currently looks like, it can absolutely use Partey. He’s a sealed bank vault with the ball, he’s an above-average dribbler, he scores and assists on occasion and, if we’re serious about selling Sead Kolasinac, we’re going to need an infusion of “meanness.”

Partey has that too.

There isn’t anything bad to say about Partey. He’s been an anchor with Atletico Madrid, he’s an established talent, he’s only 25. I could go on all day, this guy just has no downfalls. You have no choice but to love him.

Now, whether we can spend all that money on him (supposedly, he has a ~£43m release clause) is another story. But no one would complain if we paid it.