Thomas Partey

Thomas Teye Partey (born 13 June 1993) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and is the vice-captain of the Ghana national team.

Thomas Partey
Thomas with Atlético Madrid in 2019
Personal information
Full name Thomas Teye Partey[1]
Date of birth (1993-06-13) 13 June 1993
Place of birth Krobo Odumase, Ghana
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 18
Youth career
2011–2012 Odometah[2]
2012–2013 Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Atlético Madrid B 28 (3)
2013–2014 → Mallorca (loan) 37 (5)
2014–2015 → Almería (loan) 31 (4)
2015–2020 Atlético Madrid 132 (12)
2020– Arsenal 11 (0)
National team‡
2016– Ghana 30 (10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:16, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:54, 12 October 2020 (UTC)

Thomas began his professional career at Spanish club Atlético Madrid in 2013, going on loan to Mallorca and Almería, and returned to Atlético in 2015, with whom he won the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup in 2018. In 2020, he joined Arsenal in a transfer worth £45 million (€50 million), becoming the most expensive Ghanaian player of all time.

A Ghanaian international, Thomas represented his nation at two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He was named into the CAF Team of the Year in 2018, and won Ghana Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019.

Club career

Atlético Madrid
Thomas with Atlético Madrid in 2018

Born in Krobo Odumase, Thomas was a product of local Odometah's youth ranks.[3] He signed with Atlético Madrid in 2011, and was subsequently moved to the reserves a year later. On 10 March 2013, Thomas was called up to the main squad for the match against Real Sociedad.[4] However, he remained unused in the eventual 0–1 home defeat.[5]

Mallorca and Almería

On 12 July, Thomas was loaned to Mallorca, freshly relegated to the second level.[6] On 18 August, he made his professional debut, in a 0–4 away defeat against Sabadell.[7] Thomas scored his first professional goal on 15 September, netting his side's second of a 2–2 draw at Hércules.[8]

On 27 July 2014, Thomas joined La Liga side Almería on a loan.[9] He made his debut in the competition on 23 August, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Espanyol.[10] Thomas scored his first goals in the main category of Spanish football on 11 April 2015, netting a brace in a 3–0 home win against Granada.[11]

Return to Atlético Madrid

He made his first team debut for Atlético Madrid on 28 November 2015, replacing Luciano Vietto in a 1–0 home win against Espanyol.[12] On 2 January of the following year, he scored his first league goal for the club, netting the game's only strike in a home success over Levante.[13] On 28 May, he played in the UEFA Champions League Final against Real Madrid, replacing Koke in the 116th minute as his side lost on penalties.[14]

Thomas signed a contract extension with Atlético Madrid through 2022 on 14 February 2017.[15] On 31 October he scored his first European goal with a long-range strike to equalise at home to Qarabag in a 1–1 draw in the Champions League group game; he became the first African to score in the competition for Atlético.[16] Following his impressive performances for the club, he was rewarded with another contract on 1 March 2018, this time until 2023.[17] On 16 May, he played in the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final, as his side won 3–0 against Marseille.[18]

On 1 September 2019, Thomas came on as a late substitute and netted the match's winner in the last minute of the game, as Atlético came back from 2–0 down to win the game by 3–2 against Eibar.[19] He marked his 100th La Liga appearance for Los Rojiblancos with a man-of-the-match performance in a 0–0 draw against Real Madrid in the Madrid Derby four weeks later.[20]

Arsenal

On 5 October 2020, Premier League club Arsenal announced the signing of Thomas on a long-term contract, after activating his £45 million (€50 million) release clause with Atlético Madrid. He was given the number 18 shirt, which had been vacated by Nacho Monreal the previous season.[21] Upon signing, Partey stated his desire to help Arsenal "back where [they] belong", describing his decision to move being based on "[wanting] to experience new challenges", while also crediting the transfer to manager Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu.[22] On 17 October 2020, Partey made his debut for Arsenal as a substitute for Granit Xhaka in a 1-0 away defeat in the league against Manchester City.[23] Five days later, Partey started his first match for Arsenal in a 2-1 away win over Rapid Wien in the UEFA Europa League.[24] Midway through a match against Aston Villa on 8 November, Partey suffered a thigh injury which saw him miss the rest of the month's games.[25]

International career

In May 2016, Thomas was called up for the first time to the Ghana national team by manager Avram Grant, ahead of a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Mauritius.[26] He made his debut on 5 June, replacing Frank Acheampong for the final 11 minutes of a 2–0 away win that booked the Black Stars' position in the finals.[27] On 5 September 2017, Thomas scored his first international hat-trick in a 5–1 win against Congo in 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification.[28]

Thomas was chosen in Kwesi Appiah's 23-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.[29] In their last group game, he scored in a 2–0 win over Guinea-Bissau at the Suez Stadium as the Black Stars topped their group.[30] He netted in the penalty shootout at the end of the last-16 game against Tunisia on 8 July, though his team was eliminated.[31]

Thomas won Ghana Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019.[32][33] Ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, as well for qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Thomas was named Ghana's vice-captain.[34][35]

Career statistics

Club
As of 6 February 2021[36]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Mallorca (loan) 2013–14 Segunda División 37510—385
Almería (loan) 2014–15 La Liga 31410—324
Atlético Madrid 2015–16 La Liga 13251—50—233
2016–17 16120—60—241
2017–18 33331—141—505
2018–19 32330—6010423
2019–20 35310—8120464
2020–21 3000—00—30
Total 13212142—3923018816
Arsenal 2020–21 Premier League 110100010—130
Career total 20921172004023027125

International
As of match played on 12 October 2020[37]
Ghana
YearAppsGoals
201650
2017105
201842
201993
202020
Total3010

International goals
Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first.[37]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.1 September 2017Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, Ghana Congo1–11–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.5 September 2017Stade Municipal de Kintélé, Brazzaville, Congo2–0
5–1
3.3–1
4.4–1
5.10 October 2017King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia3–03–0Friendly
6.30 May 2018International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan Japan2–02–0
7.7 June 2018Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland2–22–2
8.26 March 2019Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana Mauritania3–13–1
9.2 July 2019Suez Stadium, Suez, Egypt Guinea-Bissau2–02–02019 Africa Cup of Nations
10.14 November 2019Cape Coast Sports Stadium, Cape Coast, Ghana South Africa1–02–02021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Atlético Madrid

International

Ghana

Individual

References
  1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 18 de mayo de 2019, en Valencia" [Minutes of the Match held on 18 May 2019, in Valencia] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  2. FEATURE: From Odumase to Madrid: Thomas Partey has arrived; , November 17, 2017
  3. FEATURE: From Odumase to Madrid: Thomas Partey has arrived; , November 17, 2017
  4. Oliver Torres y Thomas, novedades en la lista del Atlético (Oliver Torres and Thomas, news in Atlético's list); Marca, 9 March 2013 (in Spanish)
  5. Prieto ends Atletico's perfect home form Archived 2013-08-24 at Archive.today; ESPN FC, 10 March 2013
  6. Thomas Teye Partey, nuevo jugador del RCD Mallorca (Thomas Teye Partey, new player of RCD Mallorca) Archived 2013-07-15 at the Wayback Machine; Mallorca's official website, 12 July 2013 (in Spanish)
  7. El Sabadell golea y es el primer líder de la temporada (Sabadell thrashes and is the season's first leader); Marca, 18 August 2013 (in Spanish)
  8. El Mallorca dejó escapar la victoria en apenas diez minutos (Mallorca lets victory slip away in only ten minutes); Marca, 15 September 2013 (in Spanish)
  9. El Almería ficha al ghanés Thomas, un centrocampista de largo recorrido y poderío físico (Almería signs Ghanaian Thomas, a central midfielder with long-haul and physical strength) Archived 2014-07-29 at the Wayback Machine; Almería's official profile, 27 July 2014 (in Spanish)
  10. Sergio García amarga la Feria de madrugada (Sergio García bitters the dawn fair); Marca, 23 August 2014 (in Spanish)
  11. El Almería pide turno por la salvación (Almería calls turn for the salvation); Marca, 11 April 2015 (in Spanish)
  12. Una máquina de rentabilizar goles (A goal-rentable machine); Marca, 28 November 2015 (in Spanish)
  13. Thomas fue el líder (Thomas was the leader); Marca, 2 January 2016 (in Spanish)
  14. "Spot-on Real Madrid defeat Atlético in final again". UEFA. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  15. "Partey signs new Atletico Madrid contract". ESPN. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  16. "Thomas Partey scores stunning goal in UEFA Champions League against Qarabag". Ghana Soccer Net. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  17. "Partey on! Thomas renews with Atletico until 2023". Diario AS. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  18. Murray, Scott (2018-05-16). "Marseille 0-3 Atlético Madrid: 2018 Europa League final – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  19. "Partey scores late winner in epic Atletico Madrid comeback against Eibar". Goal. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  20. "Thomas Partey puts in masterclass performance in Madrid Derby". Goal. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  21. "Welcome to Arsenal, Thomas Partey!". Arsenal Football Club. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  22. "Thomas Partey wants to help Arsenal get "back where they belong"". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  23. "Man City 1-0 Arsenal: Raheem Sterling scores winner". BBC Sport. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  24. "Rapid Vienna 1-2 Arsenal: Gunners boss Mikel Arteta praises 'fantastic' Thomas Partey". BBC Sport. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  25. Keighley, Freddie (2020-11-14). "Thomas Partey injury labelled "an Arsenal thing" as Gunners star sidelined". mirror. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  26. "Feature: Thomas Partey's perfect week". Goal.com. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  27. "Atletico Madrid midfielder makes Ghana debut in Mauritius victory". Pulse. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  28. "Congo 1 - 5 Ghana". ESPNFC. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  29. McPartlin, Patrick (11 June 2019). "Thomas Agyepong named in Ghana squad for 2019 Africa Cup of Nations". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  30. Da Silva, Michael (2 July 2019). "Africa Cup of Nations 2019: Ghana top group, Cameroon to face Nigeria". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  31. "Ghana 1–1 Tunisia". BBC Sport. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  32. Zurek, Kweku (8 July 2018). "Ghana Football Awards: Partey named Footballer of the Year". Graphic. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  33. Douihech, Mayssa (22 July 2019). "2019 Ghana Football Awards: Full list of winners". Orange Football Club. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  34. "Andre Ayew maintains Black Stars captaincy, Partey named vice captain". Citi Sports Online. 2020-09-13. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  35. Teye, Prince Narkortu (15 September 2020). "Thomas Partey: Atletico Madrid midfielder reacts to Ghana deputy captaincy role|Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  36. Thomas Partey at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  37. "Thomas Partey". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  38. sport, Guardian (2018-08-15). "Diego Costa double helps Atlético beat Real Madrid 4-2 in Uefa Super Cup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  39. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38779223
  40. "Salah and Mane Picked in First Africa Best 11". FIFPro. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
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