‘Not as good as him’: Darren Bent makes claim about Arsenal new boy Thomas Partey

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Darren Bent has told TalkSport (14/10/20 at 8:40 am) that there aren’t any players who are as good as Arsenal’s new boy Thomas Partey in his position.

The former Premier League striker also claimed that Arsenal are getting ‘a lot of player’ for the £45 million fee they paid for the Atletico Madrid man [Sky Sports]

Partey is in line to make his Arsenal debut at the weekend when Mikel Arteta returns to familiar ground to face off against Manchester City.

Bent, who played for Spurs but is a boyhood Arsenal fan, predicted that both Partey and Granit Xhaka can now form a ‘steel’ like partnership in the middle of the park.

“When I think back to successful Arsenal teams, I think they were all massive,” Bent told TalkSport. “You look at the middle of the park before. Vieira, Edu and Gilberto. All big giants.

“Whereas Arsenal for a number of years were quite timid. But bringing him in [Partey], I am not saying, for any stretch of the imagination that he’s the next Vieira. But his stature is the same. He wins the ball back quickly. He’s good in possession. He can drive forward when he needs to. I think it’s a superb signing.

“For £45 million, you are getting a lot of player there for £45 million. There are players there who are not as good as him, who have come for way more money than him, so Arsenal and Arteta will be like ‘fantastic, he wanted to come to Arsenal’.

“I think him and Xhaka are a steel in there now. Bit of bite in there. And good protection for the back three or four. I’m really happy with the signing.”

Arsenal fans have watched Partey put pen-to-paper on Deadline Day, but then head off to international duty where he has ripped it up for Ghana.

That has made those in North London even more excited to see their new man in action because they have been crying for a player of his ilk for some while now.

But it will be interesting to see if Arteta makes them wait and opts to select the combative midfielder from the bench against Pep Guardiola’s side because he has hardly trained with his new teammates.