Kevin Campbell has disagreed with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s rumoured call to sell midfielder Thomas Partey this summer.
The Arsenal legend called Thomas Partey a ‘big player’ for the club, and whilst he doesn’t agree with the thought of the hard-hitting midfielder leaving, he made it clear that he ‘trusts the manager and Edu’, as he told The Highbury Squad.
Fans expected changes to the squad and XI this summer, but many weren’t prepared to see Partey’s name on the transfer list.
Well, all of this could now happen and Arsenal’s midfield, come next season, could be entirely revamped because Granit Xhaka is also expected to leave.
West Ham United captain Declan Rice is the number one target, they just have to get his deal over the line, and you would imagine if that happens, then others will be allowed to leave.
Nonetheless, this was Campbell’s reaction to this whole Partey talk and how Manchester City’s Treble-winning captain Ilkay Gundogan could be coming in the other direction.
“Mikel Arteta maybe looked at the squad, you have to review the season and we had a really good season,” said Campbell. “But you have to look at it. What did we lack when it mattered? Maybe we lacked a bit of energy come the end. We looked dead on our feet.
“Maybe he is saying ‘we have got two 30-year-olds in the centre of the pitch and we need to freshen it up’, so do I agree with (selling) Partey? No. I think Partey can be a really big player for us next season.
“But the manager is the one making the decisions, at the end of the day – if they (Xhaka and Partey) left and Gundogan come in, then you could understand. You are getting him on a free. You are bringing in more experience in Gundogan. Just won the Treble – he has it all.
“What is going on in the background? I don’t know. I have got to trust the manager and Edu. He realises the engine room just wasn’t right.”
Bold call from Arteta on Partey
Like a number of the Arsenal players, Partey’s form during the final few months of the season went out of the window, to the point that he was dropped from the XI.
But the 30-year-old was also a big reason why they were sitting on top for so long, so if he does leave, then this is a bold call from Arteta.
And, at the end of the day, agree or disagree, the man in the dugout needs to be trusted, and in truth, he has earned it.
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