Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has arguably enjoyed his strongest start to any of his five seasons in north London thus far.
Partey was excellent against Liverpool playing out of position, allowing Ben White to move into right centre-back given that William Saliba was missing for Arsenal.
The 31-year-old played as a makeshift right-back, a role that Mikel Arteta has often envisioned the Ghanaian playing.
Virgil van Dijk made an odd comment about Partey after the 2-2 draw on Sunday, but otherwise it was a strong evening for the midfielder.
Partey’s contract is due to expire in the summer, and given his improved fitness record at the start of this new campaign, there’s now a difficult decision for Arteta and Edu to make.
Arsenal could be preparing a two-year contract extension for Thomas Partey
That being said, according to Arsenal Insider sources, Arsenal currently want to keep Partey at the club.
As can be seen by his selection against Liverpool, Partey has the trust of Arteta the club really like him.
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In the past, Partey’s fitness record was always an issue, perhaps why many have felt as if the midfielder was heading for an exit at the end of his contract.
However, a two-year contract extension with an option is in Arsenal’s thinking moving forward.
We understand that there’s more chance of Partey staying than Jorginho next summer, even if there’s very little chance of anything happening for either player in January.
On his part, Partey is very happy in London, even with interest emerging from Italy.
What does this mean for Arsenal’s pursuit of Martin Zubimendi?
In the summer, Arsenal made another move for Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino’s former midfield teammate who has been on the club’s radar for years.
Zubimendi is a classic number six, a player who could sit at the heart of Arsenal’s midfield in a similar manner to Partey or Declan Rice.
And in truth, it remains to be seen how Arsenal plan to alter their midfield moving forward, a decision Arteta may have not made himself just yet.
As mentioned, Jorginho might be the player to move on were someone like Zubimendi to make the move to north London.
But any talk of signing a midfielder is still mostly speculation at this stage.
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