What Thomas Partey will bring to Arsenal.

A thread:

It is looking increasingly likely that Thomas Partey will become an Arsenal player by the start of next season. Most recently it has been reported that almost all aspects of the deal are completed and the announcement will happen once Atletico's season is over.

In this thread I will discuss:
• Partey's main attributes, how they improve our team and what he can improve on.
• How Partey compares to the best in the world in his position.
• How he could be used in different potential systems.
• My opinion on Arsenal signing Partey.

1. PARTEY'S MAIN ASSETS

One of Partey's best attributes is his dribbling, even when under pressure he has the ability to beat a man and break a high press, breaking the lines and initiating a counter attack. His dribble success of 88.3% gives him the highest dribble success rate

in Europe's top 5 leagues for players with 50+ attempted. In addition to this excellent success rate he also completes 1.84 p/90, putting him again in the top 10%.

Another strength of Partey's is his aerial dominance, standing at 6'1 tall, he wins 64% of aerial duels compared to

Xhaka 51%, Torreira 33%, Guendouzi 38% and Ceballos 35%. This physicality would help Arsenal win the midfield battle and shake the feeling that Arsenal are a fragile team who can be bullied on the pitch.

As a midfielder he is incredibly well rounded with few weaknesses, however,

limitations that Partey has in his game are the excessive amount of yellow cards he picks up (12 in 26 league starts this season- 7th most itl) & his high-risk play, which leads him susceptible to errors, something Arsenal already make plenty of.

The following graphic shows how Partey compares statistically to Arsenal's best performing midfielder in each attribute. He has the defensive qualities of Torreira, the progressive traits of Xhaka and superior dribbling to anything we currently have in that position.

2. SIMILAR PLAYERS

27 year old Partey has a reported release clause of £42m, a deal that seems to good to look past. I will compare his radar to some of the best midfielders in Europe and show how well he fairs, demonstrating just how good he could be in Arsenal's midfield.

Whilst he falls slightly short of some of the other best players in this comparison he is by far the most all round, with almost every stat above average when compared to players of the same position in Europe's top 5 leagues.

These graphs again show just how much Partey does, with solid numbers across the board, particularly his interceptions p/90 which are right up there with the very best.

3. SYSTEMS TO PLAY PARTEY IN

The 2 systems I will be showing how Partey can be utilised in are 433 and 343, formations Arteta has made use of since joining the club and showed intentions that he will continue utilising in the future.

433: The formation that looks most likely to be used once Arteta brings in the personnel to do so is 433. In this formation Partey could either play as a 6 or an 8. My personal take is that he would be most effective as an 8 (B2B) as it would give him more licence to roam and

reduce the risk of him losing the ball in a dangerous area leaving the back 4 exposed, something Xhaka has fallen victim to many times in the past.

343: The other option if we continue to stick with a 343 is playing a Partey, Xhaka pivot. This midfield would be solid defensively

and transition the ball well both through progressive passing and dribbling, however, the team may struggle with a lack of creation from central areas. Neither player has an Ozil eye for a pass and system would rely heavily on creativity out wide, making us easier to nullify.

4. MY TAKE

Overall I think Partey would be an excellent signing and one that would take us to the next level. He has the quality to play for almost any side in the world and wouldn't look out of place in a Premier League winning team. Having recently just turned 27 he has at

least 5 years left at the top of his game (see Aubameyang) and would completely transform our midfield. The reported release clause of £42 is a reasonable price and his current wages of £65k/pw mean that he shouldn't give our wage structure any issues.

END OF THREAD.

Likes + retweets massively appreciated and drop a follow if you enjoyed the content. This is my first thread on a player/signing so any feedback is much appreciated.

Also check out @CFCRole, helped a lot with this thread & makes great threads on his own you should check out.

Sources used: WhoScored, FBref, Squawka, FootballSlices & TFAnalysis.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1280885355777077248.html here is the tweet in article form if anyone would rather read it like this too.