After landing one of the best transfers of the summer, Mikel Arteta spoke wonders about the new player under his command.
Mikel Arteta convinced Arsenal to sign one of the most coveted midfielders on the transfer market. As an Atletico Madrid product, Thomas Partey learned the trade from one of the best midfielders in modern history. Diego Simeone agreed to let him leave as long as the Gunners paid for his release clause, something they did just hours before the deadline.
Arsenal initially hesitated to pay €50 million for the Ghana international, but Arteta is beaming with excitement. The Spanish manager confirmed that the Gunners needed a player like Thomas for their ranks. He also described his characteristics during an interview with the club’s official website while revealing the road to his transfer. It’s safe to say that Mikel is extremely happy about being able to sign a player as talented as Partey.
How Thomas became a Gunner.
Arteta tells it like this: “We identified him a few months ago and we have been following his progress, and obviously the more you know about the squad, you know more about where you think you can improve it.
“We believe he has the right qualities, with his character and his personality and as well with his technical qualities and positional options that he can give to the team.
“I think he allows us to play different formations and he can fit in within those formations in different positions, which is a really good thing to have in a squad where, in midfield, I think we were a little bit short.
“I have a few things in mind that I want to start to train with the team and [Partey’s signing] is going to give us a little bit more adaptability and more balance in defending and attacking transitions and the way we have to set up certain structures to attack better in certain moments of the game.”
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