Arsenal: Best not to believe Thomas Partey til we see it

Arsenal still don’t have their defensive midfield solution, but it’s best not to go counting on Thomas Partey until we see it.

Arsenal‘s midfield is taking on a nice shape, but there still seems to be one piece missing. One piece that, perhaps, been missing for, oh I don’t know, a decade or so? A piece that Thomas Partey would fit perfectly into.

Ever since Patrick Vieira left, we have been asking for someone like him or Gilberto Silva. An athletic, defensive presence who can enforce from the midfield, cover a lot of ground, but also competently get forward.

Lucas Torreira looked to be that guy. He was very N’Golo Kante-esque, but now that he’s almost completed his second year at the club and still hasn’t truly settled in to the club or solidified a starting role, questions are being asked.

Questions that can easily be answered by Thomas Partey, who is the exact defensive midfielder we have been asking for, and at a price that justifies his extensive experience.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

According to substantial rumors across numerous publications (and numerous years), the Gunners are still interested in landing the 26-year-old Atletico Madrid midfielder, and with a release clause of £42m, he could be our big summer signing. All things considered, there shouldn’t be much else ranking higher on the priority list. The defense, sure, but what Mikel Arteta has done with the few resources he has is pretty remarkable.

It is a dream if we had a midfield trio of Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey and Dani Ceballos (or someone like him). That checks everything off the necessity list with a lot of added bonuses as well. And as we’ve learned, a lot of times the defensive situation starts in the midfield. Defend well enough in the midfield and the defense has much less to do.

Of course, that would continue to bog down the likes of Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi, but as for the former, I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see him sold this summer and for the latter, he’s not a competitor of Partey anyway. So it wouldn’t block him off any worse than he already was.

The thing is, we’ve been linked with him before. So often. It feels like every single year for the past half-decade we’ve been linked with him. Naturally, I don’t want to get excited about a potential move. That said though, the release clause is real.