Thomas Partey has done something no one else could

Arsenal fans the world round are sold on Thomas Partey, and that makes him perhaps the first guy ever who has united Gooners.

No matter who is linked to a move to Arsenal, someone has a beef with it. Whether it’s the price, or the age, or the person or the color of his socks, it’s just never going to please everyone. Because nothing could ever please everyone. Except Thomas Partey.

At 26-years-old, Thomas Partey is not too old or too young. He’s approaching his prime, he’s built a firm foundation in La Liga, he isn’t a glory hunter, he isn’t a bad guy, he’s just a great player at a great point of his career.

With a release clause of £45m, he isn’t too expensive, but he isn’t too cheap. He’s right at the range where we’re getting what we paid for. Any less and there would have to be something defective, any more and we’re getting a bit gratuitous. And it’s a release clause, so that’s what we pay, take it or leave it.

He’s the kind of midfielder we’ve been dying for for over a decade, he’s got the athleticism to make it in a Mikel Arteta midfielder and he’s still got the upside to improve without the need to do so.

Literally every single thing about Thomas Partey is a positive and I can’t think of a single negative. As an exercise in being “fair,” I wrote a three-page slider about why Partey wasn’t right after all and let me tell you, coming up with three reasons was immensely difficult. And I kind of cheated with the third reason, because all I said was that he gets in the way of Matteo Guendouzi. That isn’t even a criticism of Partey.

Because what can you actually criticize about the guy? I have searched on social media and across the interwebs and have yet to come across anyone with a significant problem with Thomas Partey coming to Arsenal.

Not a single thing.

So, while it makes me incredibly nervous to say this, because I feel like the contrarians out there will take it as a challenge, I do believe that Thomas Partey may well be the first transfer target that has united all parties. He’s the perfect target.

Of course, being the perfect target does not mean he is already at the club. Once he gets to the club, we can reevaluate, but the first step is getting him here.