Bloody hell, Edu and Vinai only went and done it.
LaLiga informed Atlético de Madrid at 11.28pm on Monday that Arsenal representatives have paid Thomas Partey’s release clause at the sports association’s headquarters.
The player has therefore unilaterally terminated his contract with our club, which ran until June 30, 2023.
Ice fucking cold. Have you ever seen Arsenal do a deal so bereft of humanity? Unbelievable. That’s a Panenka in the 90th minute of a World Cup final. That’s a rainbow flick against peak Stoke in the 1st minute. That’s rolling into a Bermondsey pub on an away day singing ‘What do you think of MILWALL.’
This transfer will go down in folklore as the moment we stopped being a banter club.
I was told over and over that Arsenal were going hard at deals, even on Sunday. Arteta and his team pushed the club as hard as they could to do as much as they could afford. I suspect the original plan was to bring in creativity, when that deal stalled because of the rumoured whisperings of Zizou, Arsenal knew the details of the Partey release clause and went to town to activate against it.
I think, on the face of, we have made an immensely positive decision to bring in Thomas Partey. He gives us control in midfield. He is explosive over short distances, he boasts power we don’t have, and I think the club is betting they can unlock a player we haven’t seen in a more expansive system.
What I love about this move is; like the FA Cup laid to rest the idea that Arteta couldn’t handle the job, this buries the notion that we need a dirtbag like Raul running our transfer business. This summer was an unbelievably tough one to navigate. We plundered a ridiculous amount of money on players in 2019 and they didn’t deliver. We had to sell this summer, restructure some debt, and probably get a bit of help somewhere from KSE (I don’t have that sourced).
We made a deal happen for a player that can greatly enhance our ability to get back into the Champions League. This move is massive. Can you name many players better than him in that role? It’d be tough.
I’ve seen some whining from the radar merchants. I can’t have it. Arteta knows a player and he has a group of excellent analysts supporting his judgement. I also find it incredibly weird to read people critiquing his age and his salary.
Firstly, this is a guy that has played consistently at the very highest level of the game for one of the best coaches in the world (188 appearances). He has been part of setup so caked in shithousery, it’s rumoured your face burns when you walk into the training ground (something we badly lack). Simeone is a disciplinarian, a fitness fanatic, and will have imbued winnertivity into the Partey’s bones.
Secondly, he has just turned 27 years old (June). When Auba’s deal finishes, Thomas will be 30. Sure, his resale value won’t be high, but this move is a shrewd attempt at Champions League qualification right now. Questions over his salary are also nonsense. Football players love to play with great names. The squad will be buzzing about his arrival, they won’t care what he earns because he’ll be worth it. This move ticks all the boxes, it’s an extremely consequential transfer for the ambitious vision the club now has.
We still lack depth when it comes to creativity. By not signing a #8, we are relying on a creatively shy group of players like Reiss, Pepe, Willian, ESR, Saka and Ceballos coming up with a more ambitious approach to their play. There’s still time to do something with one of the clubs in the lower league. Benrahma and Buendia are the standout players that still haven’t move. We have a great relationship with Brentford and we also have ESR who could be a makeweight for a season if that works. A stretch idea though, I suspect we blew all our cash at 11:28pm last night.
Still, Arteta is a progressive coach who has not shied away from reality. He knows his job is to make players better and innovate his way out of problems. Partey gives him a different set of strategems to work with. Let’s see what he can do. Worst case, we can have another crack at Aouar in January.
Quick note on the exiting players. Matteo G moved to Hertha Berlin where Jens Lehmann is on the board and acting as a Sporting Consultant. Good luck if the Frenchman makes him look silly, that’ll be a big mistake. It was also great to see LT get his loan to Atletico. The rumours we’d pulled the deal sounded wrong, petty and counter-productive. Hopefully, he proves himself under Simeone and pumps his value.
Mustafi, Sokratis, Chambers, Reiss, Kola, Saliba, and Ozil all stayed. That wasn’t great for our bank balance, but most will exit next summer on free transfers. That is a huge advantage for our Europa League push. It means we’ll have a group of players that are very capable shop-windowing themselves in those games. That’ll give our first team players one less game to worry about until February. That could reap huge rewards for injuries and freshness when we head into crunch time next year. Every cloud, eh?! Thankfully, we don’t have a manager that’ll play his full strength 11 against Dundalk.
Today is a great day. We’ve had a transfer window that felt purposeful. Each player made sense. We improved in most of the areas we set out to make ourselves better. We made the blockbuster signing we all wanted. Our spine is looking… strong. How oddly satisfying it feels to write that. On that high note, enjoy the moment, and start getting excited about the season ahead!
Pluuuuuus, listen to my podcast right now.
Seeing MU scrapping the barrel is just wonderful.
Cavani is a weird one.
Reminds me of the Falcao situation.
Just love it though.
Midwest
Evra is about the most complete cunt I’ve ever heard comment on football – which is quite an achievement when you consider some of the competition in the media.
I’d say he’s just getting some long overdue karma.
Its no coincidence Evra captained the fabled 2010 Les Bleus side.
Graham62
It was a panic signing, they look a team in trouble.
Mind you, apart from last season, Cavani was scoring at a rate of almost a goal a game for PSG.
But at 33 he is nearly as old as Gunnersaurus.
It’s time to start taking Mikel at his word.He said quite clearly that one of his top priorities was a massive reduction in the wage-bill. No way will he pay Partey the kind of money reported by the media. Less than half will be closer. He also made clear that keeping Auba was a major priority. And to do that, he overpaid him. But the guy was getting £200k/week anyway. I don’t see Arteta keeping him beyond next summer. He knows well that the reason its hard to get rid of Ozil, or sell Mustafi, etc is their ridiculous wages.… Read more »
MW
It was funny watching Evra implode during their pathetic display against Spuds. At one stage I thought Evra and Neville were going to hang themselves, they were in pieces.
As if that wasn’t funny enough, Graeme Sourpuss started crying as the Villa goals flew in while Spit Screen Carragher tried to blame the ‘keeper for every goal.
I haven’t laughed so much since Harry Kanes last interview.
“He said quite clearly that one of his top priorities was a massive reduction in the wage-bill.”
Honestly don’t think he was referring to players like Auba or Partey who absolutely earned their salaries when he said this. He’s more likely talking about the high paid deadwood like Ozil, Kolasinac, Mustafi, Sokratis. Mkhitaryan who is already gone. Players of that profile.
Didn’t clear out much did we…
Luteo Partey hasn’t played a single minute for us so don’t get how he has absolutely earned his salary.
Awesome signing. Inspiring post Pedro. Can’t wait to see us after the break
RH
Just because your experience comes from a different company, that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve your pay when you get hired somewhere new. Does that make sense to you?
From the stats bomb article
Partley stats seemed very meh.
Surprised how good ceballos is though his stats are very good across the board even defensively
It’s early doors for Thoms but time will tell if it’s a good signing
Luteo are u saying regardless of how he performs for Arsenal he has earned the pay he is on due to his time at Athletico? Bear in mind 150k a week, probably in euros was what Athleti wanted to reward his years of stellar service for them with.
Does that mean Ozil has absolutely earned his pay here last two years due to his earlier exploits as a footballer?
Partey is a beast of an enforcer whose tackles are as strong as his jawline, can impose his physical will, can dribble in tight spaces, can carry the ball, can pass the ball long and short and doesn’t mind a crack at goal from long-range. When was the last time we had that? Onwards and upwards you motherfuckers.
RH I don’t what it is with people like you that always want others to take ownership over a passing comment because of something that may or may not happen 2 years down the line. I have no clue whether Partey be deserving a pay cut or a pay rise after two years in an Arsenal shirt, nor was I pretending to know. I certainly hope he deserves it. Right now it sounds like you might be happier if he didn’t with your contrarian stance (big surprise). He earned that paycheck because he’s been a good player on the global… Read more »
The state of some resident complainers on here, as I said before. Take it easy, have a beer and get laid if you can. Life is too short to moan and critique everything, just for the sake of it.
Funny comments today, it seems we have some very salty people hitting the blog.
……which means the Partey signing is as mind blowing as we think it is. The fact he has joined our club proves he has bought into the project & the club are prepared to back the Manager & his team.
Leftside
I’m all for a good moan when justified but when we’ve just signed a good player that will strengthen the team in it’s weakest area then some people need a slap.
‘Partey is a beast of an enforcer whose tackles are as strong as his jawline, can impose his physical will, ”
I thought Charlie said the lad was about 50kg 🙂
Now it’s his jawline strength, is he going to chew balls for us?
Interesting who doesn’t come on here when either Arsenal win or there is upbeat news
Gotta get used to it. This place is filled with “i’m the smartest in the room” types, contrarians, football financial analysts and fixations with players and managers who were once useful and mattered but no longer anymore.
Bertie, amen, amen
Marc
Its flipping annoying to read, its the same folk aswell – without fail.
I’m over the moon as all of us should be.
London, those guys said Morata was one of the best strikers in the world… so… you know… grain of salt it. Arsenal has better data people and tools. They know what they’re doing.
This guys is great on Spanish football. Check out his thread if you are worried.
https://twitter.com/davidjaca/status/1313396449086930944?s=20
I don’t know why anyone tries to change the opinion of RH. He developed standards unequalled in football when Arteta arrived, now he’s a misery about everything.
A long-form Red Truth
It’s reported Simone held Partey back as a DM and his natural position is more about carrying the ball forward and driving progression, like he plays in his national team. Partey scores 12 in 27 games!
Arteta could free Partey and we’d see what he’d do.
Btw, media also says Partey gets just under £200k pw. Whatever people believe really.
I like that thread!
“He developed standards unequalled in football when Arteta arrived”
Pedro maybe he just borrowed them from you after Emery left.
Sorry couldn’t resist!
I think it’s gonna take awhile for Arteta to figure out formation and personnel to get the balance right and the most out of our new players. Gabriel, Willian and Partey. And during that transition if everything doesn’t go smoothly there will be blood. I guarantee there will be over the top criticism of Partey the second he does something wrong. How it always is.. although I agree some on here are way more concerned about proving Pedro wrong then anything to do with the team welfare. So it favors them to have Arsenal struggle under Arteta so they can… Read more »
Pedro RH’s point was very clear. It was Marko that dragged the argument down the rabbit hole. Do you think the enormous wage we put up for Partey played a a major role in convincing him, yes or no? Receding never said it was the only reason Partey came, he said it was big factor, that it weighed considerable since we made Partey the highest paid defensive midfielder on the planet. You and many others want to believe that Partey is coming for the project, some us think otherwise. We blew him out of the water with the wages and… Read more »
Pedro, Leftside, Bertie Mee. Well said. You have to be deranged or want Arsenal to fail if you can’t be happy about what is happening. It’s not really about the Partey signing, per say, but more about how this feels. I am sure I speak for most genuine Arsenal fans when I say I am feeling more positive about what we are doing now than I have for a very long time. On the pitch we have an identity again albeit a work in progress. It’s not perfect. We have a Manager who says the right thing & he seems… Read more »
Dissenter, why would anyone want to debate a miserable point of no consequence on a day like today? It’s come from the person that has poured cold water on the project for the last 9 months. We should be talking about tactics and how the club moves forward… but instead, we’re debating the most boring incorrect semantic on the internet.
If your first point is the wages, you shouldn’t be online today.
Hey Peds on next Podcast can you cover the Gunnersaurus publicity debacle.. a little more, think it would be interesting to hear y’all’s hot take on it.
I know you kind of ran out of time on the last one.
“Interesting who doesn’t come on here when either Arsenal win or there is upbeat news”
Bertie
If you are talking about Bam then you need to know that the power rankings is complex. It takes time to compute and you need a PhD in Combinatorics and Quantum mechanics to even attempt it.
I’m nor responsible for a lack of comprehension, take that up with your teachers.
You guys wanted to paint the project as the driving force ignoring we just quadrupled his wages and made him the highest earning CM in football.
Wonder why this fact is getting you all riled up.
Pedro I covered tactics with Partey in the side quite extensively on here last night thank you very much.
“You guys wanted to paint the project as the driving force ignoring we just quadrupled his wages and made him the highest earning CM in football.” I don’t think anyone is ignoring that fact but you’re coming at it like a cunt. Let’s say someone you claim to be your favourite friend just landed a date with a girl that a lot of guys like, checks off everything he was looking for in someone. You’ve conveniently decided to come on and be like “You know she only said yes because you’re paying for that expensive dinner and bought her a… Read more »
R.I.P. Eddie Van Halen, probably the greatest guitarist ever.
RH, your misery is riling people up. You have no insight into the player, the club, or how things went down… and the best you can do to pour scorn on an elite signing is suggest it’s a mercenary move.
Weak, but you succeeded in bringing misery to the feed, so you won’t care.
Midwest “I think it’s gonna take awhile for Arteta to figure out formation and personnel to get the balance right and the most out of our new players. Gabriel, Willian and Partey: Exactly. It’s always difficult for new players to hit the ground running. There is a bedding in time. You need to understand new tactics, what is required of you from a positional point and of course your team mates. Settled teams are always better for a reason. We can all sit here and name our best 11 but we don’t work with the players every day. Arteta has… Read more »
AFC, important point about player combos. There’s no set 11 in this team, it’ll change game by game. Xhaka and Ceballos will be interchanged.
ESR and Chambers/Saliba loan to Norwich and a cheeky bid for Buendia??
*We are nowhere the finished article but IMAGINE where we could end up.
RH who gives a damn? Why keep flogging this horse? As I said yesterday I actually have time for you but this incessant angst and need to argue about everything is tiresome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_lwocmL9dQ
RIP Eddie V.
AFC
Thanks,
I’m on the same vibe you’re on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_lwocmL9dQ
https://imgur.com/a/kaywPb5
Thiago Motta’s thesis
Isn’t Partey a gooner as well?
This is the best I’ve felt about our club in years
AFC and Left side I’m with you
Pedro,
Yes exactly. Player combo is a big thing. The right pairing is better than just selecting the best two players. Best example of that will be centre back pairings – something we have yet to build. When you have a leftie and a righty it’s much more effective. I like our signings.
Pedro I’m not miserable, you are the one promoting misery by constantly using the word.
PSG, City, Madrid etc became the club they are by paying whatever it takes to sign players they believe took them up a level. Chelsea and united too. We are finally doing that and I’m happy for it, long may it continue. Football is a job and the best go where they are paid well.
The only ones uncomfortable with that singular fact are some of you here, why is that is the question?
Tunny / Leftside
Cheers.
Tunney!!!!!
What’s up dude? How’s the family? Things must be on the up if your back to LG. Agreed if you can’t get excited now.. Then what’s the point.
Reading through that thesis, I can’t help thinking about Sean Dyche.
Yep Tunny, apparently supported us as a child which is always a bonus!
Damn… I wish has written my thesis for my degree on Football. I think I wrote about light beer or something inane although to be fair at that time it was a big deal in marketing and especially sports marketing.
RH, you don’t really understand a lot about how you sell a football club.
Partey isn’t going to West Ham for 400k a week.
Elite players don’t just move for the money. When they do, it goes to shit. Just look at Neymar crying on the group chat after he moved to PSG.
Partey is paid what he’s paid because we value him there. He joined because of what was on offer under Arteta.
Think there’s a comment that Aouar was offered to Emery and he said he wasn’t interested in his project.
Left / Tunny
Partey supported us as a boy?
If he is a Gooner that is even better news.
Just another reason why he wanted to join our project.
Didn’t Oxlade Chamberlain take less money to move to Liverpool than he was offered to stay at Arsenal because he knew Wenger was finished?
Not all players move just for the readies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbixKDRxIz0
People really think they have an idea what Partey will earn? Based on what, John Cross slinging clickbait?
Dan
You god damn fan boy are you completely unaware of fact he’s on £260k pw, read that on Cross’s site, also read he’s on £195k, £200k and £150k.
Pull it together and use the number that works best for you’re agenda son. If that number exceeds Auba money double down and call him shit.
Saw Van Halen the Van Hagar Addition. Live at Farm Aid. back in the 80’s.
Sammy Hagar had just joined the band and he didn’t know any Van Halen songs so … They did Led Zeppelin cover songs… and Eddie absolutely smashed it.
Did When the Levee breaks and Whole Lotta Love and Going to California…
Never forget it…. anyhow my best memory of him.
“Elite players don’t just move for the money. When they do, it goes to shit.”
Sanchez and De Gea (staying at ManU rather then leaving like he really wanted to) are 2 other good examples.
MId
Sounds like glory to me, what a moment. Bad man Midwest Gun well get you fender sponsor soon.
Sal — I heard Mesut’s offered to pay his wage (as long as they both start every game and get to share a hotel room with a sweet gaming setup.)
Marc, Sanchez is a great example. Went from the hottest forward in the league to a bum overnight.
Welcome partey. Please don’t take me over the moon like Ozil did, only to drop me off Saturn. Still haven’t landed since I left myself off his strips. By the way, what has happened to our pride. Why allow your fantasy for ozil blind you from the bigger picture. Paul aren’t no philanthropist! Anything to slight the club. From the unwarranted tweet to Guen. And now this? Guess he will continue to pay the wages of jerry the gunnersaures after he is left this summer? How about paying some loyal fans some salary after many a fan I know have… Read more »
Remember that KSE brought in Tim Lewis to oversee tge way the club was run ( Exit Raul) . He is a hard-nosed commercial lawyer and with Vinnai has reorganised and restructured tge finances. I have been deeply critical of Kroenke but you can’t criticise them on what they have allowed to be spent but how they have spent it. One senses there is ( quite rightly in my view) real belief in Arteta and his project and you can see how he is persuading world -class players to buy into it. Let us have some belief as supporters we… Read more »
For some reasons my keyboard keeps auto correcting Ozil to Paul. Wonder why that is!
Marc, where do you see us finishing now?
As I pointed out earlier.Yhe meejah are absolutely gutted we’ve pulled Partey out of the hat.Couldnt give a flying rubber dick what salary he’s on.The guy is world class.Let that sink in.Its a position we’ve been crying out to be filled for at least 15 seasons.We will be a far better side for it & if we achieve top four or more( silverware) it wil be more than worth it.The relic figures bandied about is their attempt to knock the gloss off it.No surprise.
RIP Eddie. First saw them at Donington MOR 1984. A life well lived by all accounts.
I think we all need to wait until Bamford’s power ratings come out before we decide where we finish .. let’s not get crazy, here.
Marc on your behalf…let me say….ahhhhhh….
We are winning the league!
Yes we are…next season.
But for sure, 100% sure. Champions league anthem will be heard at the Emirates next fall.
Dan
Interesting read similar, the duo will do a series of party’s with Gunnersaus starting with Erdogan’s grand kids they will then take that show on the road hitting the entire gulf state in the newly minted Fortnite Gulfstream IV.
Mesut will show Partey what really wages look like .
Sal, your last sentence taste like honeycomb.
Midwest
Good hear from you. Been overseas for a bit. Still follow le grove everyday. Have to check in. Been a fallow depressing few years but at last i can see light at end of tunnel. We got the right man in charge.
Gabriel and Partey top signings.
“Marc, where do you see us finishing now?” We’ve certainly got a really good crack at top 4 – this season is just looking more and more screwed up as it goes on and we’re only a handful of games in. If Arteta can keep the core players fit / has a bit of luck with injuries etc then we can do it. The weekend’s results were just mental, it is a shame we don’t have a couple of more straightforward matches to bed Partey into but you could easily argue that City, Leicester and ManU are there for the… Read more »
Pedro loves the comments section because that’s where validation for his hard work comes from. I really love his dedication and due diligence. His insights and manner of writing is great to say the least. However, as many as my peeps we are, we mainly just read and diggest the articles most of the time. The comment section on le grove brought us all here. To this family. I use to come here for Support, divergent views and constructive criticism and feedbacks. But it seems, we have been infuriated and it’s infuriating. Man needs to be happy ones in a… Read more »
Pedro you are now quoting parody twitter accounts. This talk is actually getting unnecessarily dragged out. You can believe what you like for his motives of living a champions league club to join us. After believing Willian joined to win the UCL in three years you can believe anything.
I’m not replying on Parteys wages anymore cos it’s really not an issue. You pay what you have to if it means you get what you want and the club did the right thing. Project or no project being bought.
Hey Middy! Hey Tunny!
Welcome back!
Tunny are you out of mourning for Ramsey yet? 😉
Whose going to turn up next? N5? Cesc Appeal? Romford Pele? Gambon? Ahh those were the days…
Partey Time!
‘Man needs to be happy ones in a while on here for Pete’s sake’
Yes McBright!
Midwest Well, seeing as you asked, this is where my rankings stand at the moment: 1. Liverpool 2. Chelsea 3. City 4. Leicester 5. United* 6. Everton 7. Arsenal While Partey is a great signing, I still see us struggling to create chances, and I still see us finishing somewhere between 5th and 7th. I do now give us a very outside chance at 4th, but this will require both United and Leicester to under-achieve and it will require us to grind out results as successfully over 34 matches as we have done in the first four weeks, something I’m… Read more »
Bamford read the room for crying out loud.
BM “One senses there is ( quite rightly in my view) real belief in Arteta and his project and you can see how he is persuading world -class players to buy into it. Let us have some belief as supporters we haven’t been in such a positive moment for a considerable time” This. As I said previously, all I ever really wanted was for the club to start acting like the big club we are. Our global following is huge. In this Country only Liverpool and Man Utd compare with our history., nobody else. Since the Invincible team broke up,… Read more »
Pablo Marí and Cedric Soares have been left out of the Arsenal Premier League senior squad.
Really don’t think anyone gives sweet fuck all where you rate the Arsenal Bamford.
Receding seems unaware of his own criticisms and backhanded remarks these days, picking at the threads of Arteta has become his centre.
Blissfully ignorant of any excitement going on because in his world we got Partey simply by quadrupling his contract at Atletico, can’t have it reflecting well on Arteta, let’s keep it purely fiscal and play that other stuff down.
Arsenal still ranked 7th. Nice.
Receding
I did. I believe we’re still allowed to say what we think here, no?
Bamford
I hope you find love one day, I really do.
I’m surprised you haven’t got Villa and Everton ahead of too Dariano the reactionary clown.
Few things noticed about partey. His passing is fast and hard. Whips balls into feet. Likes a sideways pass. Explosive over a short distance acceleration. Looks like a powerful elneny if im honest
Pedro.
Not surprised about Pablo Mari, his ankle injury is long term.
With regard to Soares, it seems AMN has pulled it out of the bag and he deserves it.
AFC, apparently the list isn’t final until the 15th.