Mikel Arteta hailed Thomas Partey for his masterclass display against Rapid Vien.
It wasn’t the most convincing outing by the Gunners but their latest debutant, Partey was one to watch.
He controlled the midfield against a good counter-attacking side and saw his team through to a win. David Luiz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got the goals for Arsenal but it was Partey who deservedly got the Man of the Match award.
Fans were joyous to see exactly what they had hoped for – a midfielder who can be impactful from both ends of the pitch. After the game, Arteta said, “To be fair he looked really solid, really comfortable.
“I think he held the midfield by himself in the second half as well when we were a little bit more open and we started to take more chances attacking certain spaces with some players.
“But I think he was fantastic tonight and there is much more to come from him obviously.”
Partey is in line to start again versus Leicester City this weekend. His quality will be immense in taking on an attacking outfit like the Foxes.
“Yes of course, but he needs his team-mates around him. It’s not about him,” he said. “Obviously we know that with the price that we paid for him and the profile that he has, he is going to have a lot of people looking at him in every single game.
“But it’s about the structure we have as a team, the flow, the unity and the cohesion that we need in our team and he is one piece of that. Hopefully, he is a big piece.”
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