Thomas Partey future outlined at Arsenal as Fabrizio Romano drops January update

Add as preferred source on Google

Transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has now provided an update on the future of Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey.

Thomas Partey has barely featured for Arsenal so far this season. He only has four Premier League outings under his belt, and hasn’t been seen in action for the north London club since the Gunners’ 1-0 win over Manchester City in early October. 

Of course, persistent injury issues are not a new problem for Partey. He has been sidelined several times since his arrival at the club in the summer of 2020.

At 30-years-old, and with his fitness record being as unreliable as it is, Partey clearly does not represent the long-term future of Mikel Arteta’s midfield contingent. 

Arsenal had the chance to offload Partey in the summer, as interest in his services was shown from clubs in Saudi Arabia. Now, with the January transfer window drawing towards a close, talk of an exit being on the cards for the Ghanaian has emerged once again.

Fabrizio Romano has now shed some light on the situation. Speaking to GiveMeSport, the reporter said, “despite what’s being reported by some sources in Spain, I’m not aware of anything happening right now with Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey. Atletico Madrid are not interested, and Real Sociedad are not looking into it now – there’s nothing at the moment.”

“Saudi clubs wanted him last June but Arsenal decided to keep him, so let’s see what’s going to be the strategy in the next few months, but for January, it looks very quiet.”

Should Arsenal be open to letting Thomas Partey go?

Whilst it seems that Partey is set to stay at Arsenal until the end of the current campaign at least, if an opportunity to cash in on the 47-cap Ghana international presents itself in the coming days then the club should seriously consider accepting such an offer.

Arteta cannot rely upon Partey to be consistently fit and available when needed, even if the midfielder is now back in training and in contention to face Nottingham Forest in the upcoming clash. 

The fact remains that Partey is currently earning £200,000-per-week and only has 18-months left on his current contract. The club can’t afford to keep carrying a player on such wages who plays so infrequently, and time is running out for the Gunners to attract anything like a decent fee for him. 

In an ideal world, Partey will be able to find some form and fitness throughout the second half of the campaign, and can play an important role in helping Arsenal push for the Premier League title. There is no denying that at his best he is still an elite-level performer. However, come the summer, the club need to finally move on from him and start rebuilding their midfield unit with the future in mind.