Arsenal: Thomas Partey has changed his name after converting to Islam

Thomas Partey has changed his name after recently converting to Islam.

The Arsenal midfielder grew up as a Christian in Ghana and then moved to Spain in 2012, to join Leganes’ youth setup.

A year later, Partey signed for Atletico Madrid and finally broke into their first-team in 2015 following loan spells at Real Mallorca and Almeria.

The 28-year-old then secured a £45 million move to Arsenal in 2020, although injuries have hampered his stay in west London to a degree thus far.

In March of this year, Partey announced that he had converted to Islam due to his Moroccan girlfriend, Sara Bella.

He also said that he grew up with Muslims around him back in Ghana.

Thomas Partey has converted to Islam. Congratulations, @Thomaspartey22! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/m3M4x2jbTK

According to the Arsenal star, the two are now married and he has also changed his name, as part of his devotion to his new religion.

“I’m already married and my Muslim name is Yakubu,” Partey said, as per eldesmarque.

That name sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Yakubu, the same name as the former Portsmouth and Everton striker, is an English transliteration of a West African name and is a cognate of Jacob and James, per Wikipedia.

Partey’s father is called Jacob.

According to the Evening Standard, the name change is not formal and Partey will continue to wear ‘Thomas’ on the back of his Arsenal shirt next season.

Why does he not have his surname? He explained exactly why after signing for the Gunners two years ago.

“Yeah! I’ve seen that there are Partey’s everywhere and even the photographer asked me why I don’t use Partey on my shirt and I said it’s because I started with Thomas and people are familiar with Thomas, so I need to go with Thomas,” he explained.