Arsenal made a big splash in October as they rushed through a deadline day deal to sign Thomas Partey from Atetico Madrid.
The Ghanaian had been a key target for Arsenal for months, and it looked like a deal just wouldn’t be possible as the summer window drew to a close.
However, Arsenal did scramble through a deal, paying Partey’s release clause to complete a huge signing – and we have seen why they wanted him.
The 27-year-old has made 11 Premier League appearances for the Gunners, showing the ability to drive through midfield and open up the game going forward.
A hip injury earlier this season did limit his impact at one point, but he is looking impressive now, and is clearly one of the first names on the Arsenal teamsheet.
Now, Partey has told Stadium Astro that Arteta is helping him ‘a lot’, and is helping expand his midfield role having predominantly been a holding midfielder breaking up play for Atletico.
Partey admitted that he remembers Arteta telling him to not simply stand in front the Arsenal defence, as he wants Partey to go forward and be free to attack.
Partey called this advice ‘amazing’, seemingly welcoming a fresh approach after his time under Diego Simeone, hailing Arteta’s tactical outlook in the process.
“Mikel is helping me a lot. At Atletico, I played in a similar position,” said Partey. “The system is not the same back there, you have to be well positioned to be able to go around your marker, and here Mikel is helping a lot because I remember, he said, ‘You don’t have to be in the same line and opposite the defender’. You have time to be able to do whatever you want and this is amazing.”
“It’s just as important, you need to keep it in mind and whenever your teammates have the ball, you know who you are in line with, who you are not in line with and this is helping me a lot,” he added.
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