It’s been a bit of a weird campaign for Arsenal so far this season.
Mikel Arteta’s side have looked brilliant in some games, such as the wins over Sporting CP, Crystal Palace and West Ham United, but have looked really quite poor in others, such as the draws against Fulham, Everton and Atalanta.
However, while some players have taken a step back this year, like Leandro Trossard, others have stepped up, including one international who might be in his best run of form since joining the club.
However, reports from late last month have revealed that Arsenal could lose the player in question for nothing in the summer, in a move reminiscent of Aaron Ramsey’s departure in 2019.
Aaron Ramsey's Arsenal exit
Ramsey famously chose to join Arsenal as an up-and-coming 17-year-old in 2008, which he later said was down to Arsène Wenger’s track record with young players and the effort the club made to try and bring him in.
Over the next 11 years, the Welsh legend endured plenty of lows, such as spells of poor form and breaking his leg against Stoke City in 2010, but he also enjoyed plenty of highs.
For example, he scored the winning goal in two FA Cup finals and played the full 90 minutes in the 4-0 win over Aston Villa.
By the time his time in North London was up, he had racked up 64 goals and 60 assists in 369 appearances, which equates to a sensational average of a goal involvement every 2.97 games.
However, despite being offered a new deal by the club in the summer of 2018, the former Caerphilly-born star opted to sign a pre-agreement with Juventus the following January, which saw him move to Turin that summer.
Arsenal
369
64
60
Juventus
70
6
6
Cardiff
46
6
3
Nice
34
1
3
Rangers
13
2
2
Forest
5
0
0
Unfortunately for the 34-year-old, he would only make 70 appearances of the Old Lady over the following years before joining Rangers on a short-term loan in January 2022, then OGC Nice for a season that summer, before finally moving back to his boyhood club, Cardiff City, last summer, where he remains today.
Things might not have panned out for him since leaving the club, but there can be no doubt that losing Ramsey, especially for free, was a significant blow for Arsenal, and it’s a blow that could happen again with another midfielder this year.
Arsenal's potential Ramsey repeat
So, to get straight to the point, the Arsenal player in question is Thomas Partey.
According to a report from Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo late last week, as relayed by Sport Witness, Barcelona have a list of potential Frenkie De Jong replacements, and the vastly experienced Ghanaian is someone they are incredibly keen on.
Akin to the Ramsey situation in 2018/19, the report has revealed that Arteta and Co are pushing to keep the 31-year-old beyond the expiration of his contract in the summer and are happy to offer him a two-year extension.
However, it is not clear if this is an offer the former Atlético Madrid star will accept, and he now holds all the power as he is free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs this month.
Now, had this news broken at the end of last season, fans and pundits may have seen this transfer as a useful way of offloading Partey’s hefty £200k-per-week wages, as the last couple of years have seen injuries severely limit his role in the team.
However, while he played just 883 minutes of football for the club last season, he has already played 1976 minutes this year, and to say he’s been a useful player for the manager would be an understatement.
For example, in just 18 league appearances this term, the “sensational” leader, as dubbed by La Liga expert Gerry Armstrong, has scored two goals and provided two assists, meaning he’s averaged a goal involvement every 4.5 games, which is only made more impressive by the fact that four of those appearances have come at right-back.
Ultimately, while he’s not a long-term option, Partey has shown this season that he still has the ability to be a top-quality midfielder for a title-chasing team in the Premier League, and therefore, Arsenal must do what they can to ensure he doesn’t leave on a free as Ramsey did.
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