Paul Merson thinks Thomas Partey has been the signing of the summer
|Popular pundit Paul Merson believes that Arsenal have pulled off the signing of the summer in the form of Thomas Partey.
The 27-year-old midfielder was signed on deadline day for a fee of around £45 million and he has been highly impressive for the Gunners so far.
Merson said (via Metro): “It was a good away performance [at Man United], it wasn’t great, I wouldn’t get carried away and say oh my god it’s a turning point. They beat a terribly, terribly poor Manchester United team on the day. They’ve done a job, we’ve seen them lose those games over the last five or six years. But I think Partey’s a massive, massive difference. I mean, what a signing. When you talk about signings in the summer, he’s got to be number one. I cannot believe, without being horrible here, that Arsenal got him. I don’t mean that in a horrible way, they’re all crying out for it – I know Manchester United are top-heavy and they’ve got Fred, McTominay and Matic, but they haven’t got a Partey.”
Partey was arguably the best player on the pitch against Manchester United at the weekend and he helped Arsenal between the Red Devils at Old Trafford after 14 years.
Arsenal needed a technically gifted physical presence in their midfield at the start of the season and Partey has added just that.
The former Atletico Madrid is excellent in getting out of tight situations with his technique and flair. He is also very impressive at screening the back four.
Partey has already improved Arsenal defensively and it will be interesting to see if he can work on the offensive side of his game and add some goals to the side as well.
So far the midfielder has proven to be a good return on their investment for Arsenal and the Gunners will be hoping that he can improve further in the coming months.