Tuesday, 6 October 2020

Thomas Partey: made at Atlético and now ready to break free at Arsenal

Ghana midfielder has never been one to take the easy route and his arrival means that Arteta’s spine now has a formidable look

Thomas Partey’s capacity to surprise should never have been in doubt. It was 2011 when, as a young midfielder playing in Ghana for second-tier side Tema Youth, he held his breath and took the kind of gamble many young African footballers make in search of a career.

He had been offered a trial in Spain; the details were scant although his father, a football coach, had sold some of his own belongings to afford the documents for any move. Eventually Partey was driven to Accra, his home country’s capital, handed a passport and told it was time to fly. “Nobody from my family knew anything, nor that I was going that day because if they were told then it would cause a lot of problems,” he said later. “I decided to travel without saying anything to anyone.”

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