Arsenal legend Martin Keown made a surprise claim in his coverage of the Gunners before their win against Wolves tonight, claiming on BT Sport that Thomas Partey is a ‘Vieira-type character’.
‘Character’ is of course the keyword to consider here, as Keown’s outlandish claim whilst he revelled about Partey’s ability just seems far too premature considering what we’ve seen from Partey.
Keown saw Partey’s last outing for the Gunners before tonight’s clash as the tie against Manchester City, discounting the disastrous cameo in the League Cup where he was sent off against Liverpool.
The former Arsenal centre-back believes that Partey played his best game for the north London outfit against Pep Guardiola’s side before he launched into a Patrick Vieira comparison.
The Gunners recruited Partey ahead of the 2020/21 season, meeting the Ghanaian midfielder’s £45m release clause, as per BBC Sport. A figure that the star has so far failed to justify.
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Here is what Keown had to say on Partey before the match kicked off:
“Well, when you keep them on the pitch (Xhaka and Partey), they do a good job.
“Partey particularly, we’re looking at Xhaka at the moment, but Partey for me played his best game for Arsenal in that last game against Man City.
“I do feel now that he’s starting to show the player that Arsenal thought they bought. A Vieira-type character, able to get around the pitch, passes it well – he’s got everything in the locker, it’s just about consistency.”
Partey has certainly showed shades of the individual who impressed for Atletico Madrid in his 19 appearances so far this season, but has performed some way off the level that warrants Vieira comparisons with all due respect.
Keown’s general praise of the midfield partnership between Partey and Xhaka probably isn’t what a lot of Arsenal fans will like to hear, despite the duo’s skills in some areas, they’ve come up short and with costly mistakes in some massive matches during their time at the Emirates.
The ex-England international has hardly done any favours for Partey with this statement as well, rather than some realistic words of encouragement and praise, he’s now stacked the Ghana international up to Vieira far too soon, which piles the already mounting pressure on the midfielder to succeed.