Lee Dixon has suggested that Thomas Partey sums up Arsenal’s inconsistency issues this season.
Arsenal technical director Edu signed the 27-year-old midfielder in a £45 million deal from Atletico Madrid last October.
But it’s been a mixed first season for the Ghana international at the Emirates Stadium.
He looked a cracking addition by Edu early on – particularly in a win away to Manchester United – but injuries and a loss of form have taken their toll on the powerhouse.
Lord knows that Arsenal have quite a few inconsistent players in their ranks this season – including Nicolas Pepe – but former Gunners defender Dixon has suggested that this heavily applies to Partey too.
He said to NBC Sport: “Sometimes I watch him and go ‘wow’. He steps in, Patrick Vieira-like, and drives forward and you think, ‘he’s got it all’. But then I’ve seen him in other games when he literally cannot pass to a red shirt. He’s hitting it all over the place and I was like, ‘that’s not the player I saw last week’.”
Partey was benched by Mikel Arteta for Arsenal’s 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates tonight.
But he replaced Dani Ceballos midway through the second half as Arteta looked to solidify the midfield, after the Baggies pulled one goal back to make it 2-1.
Quite a lot of foreign imports struggle during their first season in the Premier League and therefore it isn’t fair to judge Partey too harshly until his second year as an Arsenal player.
There’s no denying that he’s a very talented footballer and hopefully for his and Arteta’s sake, he can be a lot more consistent next time around.
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