‘Fantastic signing’: BT Sport pundit duo back Arsenal-linked target to join CL club

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Joe Cole and Rio Ferdinand have backed Chelsea to sign Thomas Partey despite heavy links with Arsenal in recent months, as quoted by the Metro.

The Guardian have claimed that if Arsenal’s London rivals cannot secure the signature of Declan Rice then they will push for Partey, who has been on Arsenal’s radar for some time now.

But Cole thinks that the Atletico Madrid man would be a ‘fantastic signing’ for Chelsea, as Ferdinand also shared his thoughts on the player potentially moving to the Champions League club.

‘I think a huge thing for them is to stop conceding goals,” said Ferdinand, as quoted by the Metro. “I think Frank would have looked at it last season and three of the back four that will be playing today are new players.

“He’ll have seen that a lot of goals conceded and I think the most conceded in 22 years at the club. More importantly, we [see] reports today of Partey coming in in that central area.

“I don’t think he’s happy with the likes of Kovacic or Jorginho. You can see that because he’s chopping and changing in those positions. ‘Getting someone like that in to protect the back four or five along with Kante goes a long way to nullifying the goals against.”

Cole added: “As soon as possible, I think Frank wants to nail down the goalkeeping position and back four and then he can just tinker with that midfield and Partey would be a fantastic signing.”

This is the last thing Arsenal need because they are seemingly finding it difficult as it is trying to secure Partey’s signature without needing outside noie.

Whilst Frank Lampard could do with Partey’s presence, power and defensive awareness in the middle of the park, it’s obvious he’s needed more at Arsenal.

Even though Lampard’s side secured their first clean sheet of the season on Saturday, when they put four past Crystal Palace, as Ferdinand mentioned there does seem to be a lot of tinkering going on in that midfield at Stamford Bridge.

Hours remain before Monday’s transfer window slam shut and Arsenal clearly need more oomph in their team.

There’s no doubt that the Arsenal supporters would much prefer for Partey to stay put in Spain rather than join their rivals because that would hurt more.