When Arsenal signed Thomas Partey on deadline day from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2020 by triggering an expensive £45m release clause, much hopes were placed on him to deliver and bolster the club’s midfield.
It was a proper investment from a then cash strapped Arsenal who offered him £230,000 in weekly wages along with a £2m signing-on fee, which ensured that he was one of the top earners at the club.
But his debut season did not go as per plan as a host of muscular injuries sidelined him for a large chunk of the season. The Ghanaian international missed a total of 18 games for the Gunners last season, effectively missing out almost half the season, according to transfermarkt.co.in.
However, it looks like Partey has put aside his initial difficult spell this season as he has already surpassed his appearance tally from last season. Partey also has racked up his best output tally for Arsenal, with 2 goals and an assist this season as per whoscored.com.
The latest goal came during the home game against Leicester a few days ago when the midfielder nodded in a Martinelli corner at the near post.
With his Arsenal stint finally back on track, Partey met up with a team of interviewers from Sky Sports for a quick-fire round of questions, in an effort to familiarise himself with the Gunners’ supporters.
While the midfielder provided insights into his topics such as the player he imitated while playing football as a kid (Didier Drogba), Partey also gave bizarre answers to a few questions.
The most unexpected answer came when the player was asked what would he have been if not a footballer to which Partey responded, Michael Essien and this has amused a majority of Arsenal supporters.
It remains to be known if the midfielder had a list of prepared responses for the interview or if he was simply joking about it.
One fan has theorized the most likely cause that Partey simply misunderstood the question as “if you weren’t a (another) footballer, which player would you be?”
In any case, the Ghanaian has certainly found favour with the Gunners supporters with this amusing interview and would be looking to bond more with them as he looks to help Arsenal in their quest to secure UCL football for next season.
