Owen Hargreaves ‘excited’ after Thomas Partey produces one of the ‘best debuts’ ever seen for Arsenal
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Thomas Partey is set to be a huge part of the Arsenal team after making a standout first start for them, according to Owen Hargreaves.
The midfielder has only made a short cameo in the Premier League so far, after joining late on transfer deadline day, but he was the club’s first choice signing and they paid around £45 million to secure his services.
After watching him stroll through the Europa League match against Rapid Wien and dictate proceedings, Hargreaves spoke in glowing terms about the extent of just how impressive his full debut was.
“Thomas Partey had one of the best debuts I’ve ever seen, honestly,” he told BT Sport.
"Everyone is looking to him and that’s a [No.] 10 pass [made during the game] and he’s a holding midfield player.
“He’s ran the whole game and you can tell he’s been playing in the Champions League because it looks too easy for him.
“We saw before the whole range. Short, long, playing between the lines. Physically, that’s what he’s in there for, a little bit of steel.
“I'm definitely excited, I love this guy. He can do everything. Too strong, too quick, technically good. I think the guy just has so much to his game. His whole repertoire, he just has everything.”
Thomas was in midfield along with Bukayo Saka and Mohamed Elneny, while Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos have largely been Mikel Arteta’s go-to pairing throughout 2020.
His first Premier League start could come against Leicester City on Sunday, with both teams on nine points from four games and having played European action on Thursday.
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