Forget Odegaard: Arsenal gem who won 100% duels today is now "impossible to ignore" - opinion

When Thomas Partey spoke to the media a few months ago, he ranked his Arsenal career so far as a four out of ten.

It was quite the statement from the Ghanaian enforcer but since that moment, his contribution to Mikel Arteta’s midfield at the Emirates has been remarkable.

He arrived in north London amidst a wave of comparisons to Patrick Vieira and he arguably struggled under the pressure of that.

Coupled with a £45m transfer fee, his early performances in the red and white appeared to be indicative of poor transfer business.

A mix of injuries plagued his first campaign at Arsenal but in 2022, he has come alive and is now stabilising a combative partnership alongside the much-maligned Granit Xhaka.

He came back from AFCON and was sent off in his first game but in such a young team, he is now stepping up admirably. In the words of Football.London reporter Kaya Kaynak, he is now “impossible to ignore.”

Indeed, his performance against Leicester on Sunday showed what a Rolls-Royce midfielder he now is to the team.

The 28-year-old is one of the senior members of the side and in their 2-0 victory over the Foxes, he was simply superb.

Speaking at full-time on Sky Sports, pundit Jamie Redknapp typified his display perfectly, saying: “He’s lovely on the ball, Arsenal fans have been crying out for this for many many years.”

Redknapp continued: “He’s got that aura about him, he’s got everything.”

It was easy to see why he was being raved about as Partey not only opened the scoring with a rare goal – a header from a corner – but he was also vital in the second strike.

His header was met by the hand of Caglar Soyuncu inside the box and after a long deliberation with VAR, Anthony Taylor finally pointed to the penalty spot.

Partey