I would not be surprised if Thomas Partey has played his last Arsenal game.
Some will say this situation “should have come sooner”, and I am certainly one of those that would not have been upset had we taken Saudi blood money last summer.
Partey, when fit, is one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe. He is a destructive force in the middle of the park. An individual that is hard to stop when he gets going.
But all that means nothing when is body continues to betray him.
Considering he is one of our highest earners, we can not afford for Thomas Partey to be missing 36.6% of games.
In the summer, we signed Declan Rice. Many felt he was coming in to replace the outgoing Granit Xhaka, but I always thought he would be a long-term replacement for Partey in the midfield.
At their best, there is not too much difference between Rice and Partey, but the differential is Rice does not get injured.
Rice has missed just a single game for The Arsenal this season – when he was rested for the Brentford League Cup game.
Since 2020, Rice has missed just 21 games of football for Arsenal and West Ham. That is just 12% of games – many of which were Europa Conference, League or EFL games where he was clearly rested.
With Partey’s latest set back, I think it is now time to completely move on. If a decent bid comes in for him in January – from Italy, Saudi or beyond – we should look to take it.
Raise what we can in transfer fees, and get those wages off our books.
We have Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny as defensive midfield cover options for Declan Rice, so we will not be desperate to sign someone else in January (Olexsandr Zinchenko and Jurrien Timber provide further cover).
Come next summer, Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny will also likely exit, so expect us to make two new midfield signings.
The first will look to be the Partey replacement – someone who can come in and replicate what Rice can do in the defensive positions. The second will probably be someone who can both play in that defensive position, as well as further forward to provide cover and competition for Kai Havertz.
I was buzzing when we signed Thomas Partey. I hoped it would usher in a period where we targetted some of the best in the world. He has been a good signing, but he is now a liability.
Partey is the example as to why you do not give long contracts to players when they reach a certain age.
Luckily, we already have him repalced as a first team player in Rice. Next will be to replace him as a squad player.
UTA.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Sadly, have to agree. Partey is a beast when he’s on his game but he just cannot stay fit. You can’t rely on a player like that. Was looking forward to seeing him get a run of games alongside Rice but not even sure he’s a better option than Jorginho now. He’s certainly not at Rice’s level.
Hopefully the Saudis come in for him and we get a decent fee but he’s just a drain on the wage bill now so either way, think he’ll be off in January. As I say, it’s sad because he has/had the ability to be a great, great player for The Arsenal.
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