PARTEY BEGINNING TO AS JUST TO LIFE IN LONDON

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has been getting a lot of praise for his recent performances and it is safe to say that he has deserved the praise. The Ghana international midfielder is easily enjoying his best run of form as an Arsenal player. Aside from his red card against Liverpool last month, the Ghana international hasn’t put a foot wrong for the Gunners and it could soon be time to revisit his own rather honest rating of his spell in north London so far.

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Following Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at the beginning of December, Partey clearly wasn’t happy with his overall form following his £45m move from Atletico Madrid in the 2020 summer transfer window.
Prior to departing for the Africa Cup of Nations at the start of 2022, he produced a man-of-the-match display in the Gunners’ 2-1 loss against Manchester City and earned comparisons to Patrick Vieira. Continue reading PARTEY BEGINNING TO AS JUST TO LIFE IN LONDON

ESSIEN: CHELSEA NEED TO MAKE NEW SIGNINGS

Before the opening of the January winter transfer window, Chelsea were tipped to make new signings as they were unexpectedly struggling to win games. Chelsea’s struggles were particularly credited to their lack of goalscoring prowess and of course, their attackers were made to shoulder the blames. Despite splashing £97 million to bring back former striker Romelu Lukaku to Stamford Bridge last summer from Italian Serie A side Inter Milan, the Blues have still not been as dangerous as they were expected to be.

28-year-old Lukaku has struggled to shoulder the goalscoring responsibilities at Chelsea and it is one of the reasons why they have not been the team they were last season. They have been forced to draw games that they were originally expected to win and fans started staging a campaign that the club should sign new players starting from the January winter transfer window. However, the club had other plans and decided to stay quiet instead.

The club’s former midfielder, ex-Ghana international star Michael Essien, has urged his former club to go all out and sign new players this summer if they want to stand a strong chance of winning the Premier League title.

The Blues are currently battling for a top four spot and look to have missed out on the chance of becoming league champions, with City and Liverpool the two contenders for the crown. But Essien believes that as long as they can sign the right players in the summer transfer window, they can stage a major challenge for the title next season not only for the W glisb Premier League title, but for the UEFA Champions League title as well as domestic Cups, including League and FA Cups. Sevilla defender Jules Kounde remains one of their major targets.

GHANA BEGIN AFCON TOURNAMENT WITH DEFEAT

Four-time champions Ghana started their 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament campaign on a disappointing note following the 1-0 defeat toNorth African giants Morocco. It was the opening match in Group C of the tournament.
Apart from Morocco, Ghana are also in the same group withGabon and debutants Comoros.

In their opening match, Ghana played second fiddle to Morocco for the majority of the game and the North Africans got their reward when Angers FC of France winger SofianeBoufalpounced on some hesitant defending in the Ghana rearguard toscore the winner with seven minutes left to play.

It was not the start that Ghanaian fans would have envisaged in the quest to win a fifth AFCON title. Only two countries have won more titles than Ghana in the history of the competition. The two countries are the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and the Pharaohs of Egypt. The Egyptians are the most successful African team with seven AFCON titles, while Cameroon are second with five titles.
Ghana had all their big guns for the game against Morocco but they didn’t have the desired effect. The likes of Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey, Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew, Daniel Amartey of Leicester City and Andre Ayew were in the Ghana XI for the game.

Ghana have the opportunity to bounce back from the slim defeat to the Moroccans when they face Gabon on Friday, January 14. Any other than victory against Gabon will leave the former AFCON winners on the brink of elimination from the tournament ahead of the final group game against tiny Comoros on Tuesday, January 18.

Gabon were without two of their big players in Pierre-EmerickAubameyang and Mario Lemina for the Comoros game but they were still able to record a 1-0 victory thanks to the goal from Aaron Boupendza.

PARTEY HIGHLY CRITICAL OF ARSENAL SPELL

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey was highly critical of his performances for the Gunners since he moved to the club at the start of last season. The Gunners paid the €50m release clause in his Atletico Madrid contract to secure his transfer. Ghana national team star Parteywas highly critical of his Arsenal form in an interview with Sky Sports as he gave himself a score of 4/10.

The Ghana international has come under criticisms from the Arsenal fans due to his inconsistent form in midfield especially since his return from muscle tightness for the Liverpool game at Anfield last month.Including the Liverpool game, the Gunners have lost three of their last four Premier League games and the duo of Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey and club skipper Pierre-EmerickAubameyang have both been heavily criticised by the Arsenal fans. The general consensus is that senior players such as Aubameyang and Partey are letting the team down to the extent that fans can’t wait for them to leave for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cameroon at the start of next month. Aubameyang is expected to lead Gabon during the tournament, while Partey will take on a similar role as the vice-captain for the Ghanaian team.

Arsenal have lost their last two Premier League games despite taking the lead in those games and they would be hoping to get back to winning ways when they welcome South Coast club Southampton to the Emirates Stadium this weekend.

The aforementioned interview from Partey took place shortly before the Everton game at Goodison Park on Monday, the Gunners took the lead through Martin Odegaard at the end of the first half before Partey and Arsenal substitute Nuno Tavares were involved in a mix-up off a throw-in which led to the Everton equaliser from Richarlison ten minutes from time. Demarai Gray then scored the winning goal for the Toffees in added time to ensure that their run of eight games without a win came to an end.

ARSENAL UNBEATEN RUN REACHES NINE

Arsenal are now unbeaten in nine games in all competitions after their impressive victory over Leicester City in a Premier League matchday ten clash at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Gunners went into the back on the back of an eight-game unbeaten run and they were able to extend it to nine thanks to the 2-0 away win over Leicester City.


Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal players started the game on the front foot with Ghana national team player Thomas Partey dominating proceedings in midfield and they were rewarded with a pair of goals inside eighteen (18) minutes. Ghana international Partey is starting to influence games on a regular basis at Arsenal as he appears to have gotten the better of his injury woes. The Ghana player scored his first goal in an Arsenal shirt as the Gunners made it seven games unbeaten in all competitions with the 3-1 home victory over Aston Villa. The ex-Atletico Madrid player was the recipient of the first goal against Villa. Continue reading ARSENAL UNBEATEN RUN REACHES NINE

GHANA TARGET REDEMPTION AGAINST ZIMBABWE

The Black Stars of Ghana are on the path of redemptionahead oftheir third game in Group G of the African section for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The Ghanaiansplay hosts to the Warriors of Zimbabwe at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium in Cape Coast for their third Group G outing.


They take on the Zimbabweans at home on Saturday evening in the first of the double header involving the two countries this month. A second group meeting between the two nations will take place at the National Sports Stadium in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare next week Tuesday. Continue reading GHANA TARGET REDEMPTION AGAINST ZIMBABWE

PARTEY SET FOR ARSENAL RETURN

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Arsenal fans have missed the influence of Ghana national team vice captain Thomas Partey as they come to terms with the poor start made in the Premier League this season. The Gunners were resigned to start the new Premier League campaign without Partey after the Ghanaian sustained an ankle injury against London rivals Chelsea in preseason.

The Ghana player was injured under the challenge from England international midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek and he had to be subbed off in the first half of the game which ended 2-1 in favour of the Blues thanks to the winning goal from Tammy Abraham who has since left the club to join Italian Serie A giants AS Roma on a permanent deal.
Partey sustained the ankle injury during the friendly game with Chelsea played on August 1 and 12 days before the season opener at the home of fellow London team Brentford. He would go on to miss the game which ended in a 2-0 win for the Bees thanks to the goals from the duo of Christian Norgaard and SergiCanos. Continue reading PARTEY SET FOR ARSENAL RETURN

PARTEY DROPS ON ARSENAL LIST

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey is down by one place on the list of the most expensive signings at the Emirates Stadium after the Gunners completed the signing of English defender Ben White on Friday.

Ghana national team vice skipper Partey became the fourth most expensive Arsenal signing when the North London club paid the €50m (£45m) release clause in his then Atletico Madrid contract to secure his transfer during last summer’s transfer window. Ghana midfielder Partey was less costly than just three players namely Nicholas Pepe, Pierre-EmerickAubameyang and Alexandre Lacazetteas at the start of this summer. However, the Ghana international has dropped from fourth to fifth most expensive signing at Arsenal with the arrival of White from Brighton and Hove Albion.

Arsenal paid £50m for White who was their top defensive target in this window. The North Londoners had two bids rejected by Brighton before they were successful when they matched the club’s valuation.The Gunners made a £40m bid at first and it was turned down by Brighton before the bid was upped to £47m. The second bid also met a negative response from the Seagulls.

23-year-old White has replaced Ghanaian international Partey as the fourth most expensive Arsenal signing and he has been handed the number four jersey ahead of the new campaign. England player White is the third signing for the Gunners this summer after Albert SambiLokonga and Nuno Tavares.

The Gunners signed Belgian midfielder Lokonga in a deal that could be reach the £17m mark, while fullback Tavares has moved to Arsenal in an £8m deal. Arsenal signed Lokonga and Tavares from Anderlecht in Belgium and Benfica in Portugal.

Arsenal are still in the market for other reinforcements this summer with Sheffield United goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdaleone of the players being eyed. Inter Milan star Lautaro Martinez is also a target for Arsenal.

CHELSEA STAR COULD LEAVE STAMFORD BRIDGE ON LOAN

Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi is back making headlines once again and this time around, the rumors have continued from where they stopped the last time. According to the reports this time around, Hudson-Odoi could be set to leave Chelsea this summer and is seeking extremely likely to find another club where he will play next season.

Two summer transfer windows ago, he was strongly linked with a move to German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich but Chelsea’s reluctance to sell him meant that he would have to remain in North London as the Blues insisted that they needed the attacker in the team.

Since his move to Bayern did not happen and after Chelsea decided to keep him at the club, he has not enjoyed much luck and still remains down the pecking order of attackers in the Chelsea squad. With the likes of Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech also battling to earn starts under Thomas Tuchel, it continues to look like Hudson-Odoi will have to convince the German manager beyond any reasonable doubts that he can play more frequently for the Blues.

Bayern, the club that were interested in signing the player some months ago, are said to have pulled the plug on the deal and are no longer interested in landing his signature. He winger recently visited Ghana, his country by birth, where he engaged in some agreed football warm-ups ad he looked to put his fitness in check.

Bayern are already well packed in their attack and signing Callum Hudson-Odoi would mean that they are getting themselves a liability because he won’t be promised plenty game time at the Allianz Arena. Chelsea are ready to listen to offers for the player but those offers have to be in line with what Chelsea want for him.

PARTEY TO JOIN GHANA SQUAD THURSDAY

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey will join the rest of his teammates on Thursday according to the Ghanaian Football Association (GFA). The Ghanaian football body was forced to release a statement on Parteyon Monday following reports that the player had been expelled from camp by Ghana coach Charles Akonnor ahead of the international friendly clash between Ghana and Morocco on Tuesday.

The statement from the GFA has now confirmed the situation of things as regards Partey. It was revealed that the Ghana vice-captain was given permission to miss the Morocco friendly for him to attend to some personal issues.

Partey, 27, was said to have met with coach Akonnoron Thursday to discuss his situation as per the statement from the football body. The Arsenal player travelled to Cape Coast for a meeting with his coach. At the end of the meeting that lasted for almost an hour, he was excused for the Morocco game and asked to return to camp in time for the Ivory Coast game.

Arsenal midfielder Partey is the first deputy captain for the Ghana team and he joined his colleagues in training briefly to show his support before leaving for the Ghanaian capital Accra. He will rejoin the Ghana camp on Thursday ahead of the West African Derby with the Ivorians.

Partey didn’t have the best of seasons in his debut campaign for the Gunners following his transfer from Spanish champions Atletico Madrid last summer and he would be hoping for a better outing with his national team when the Black Stars face the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire.

Meanwhile, Brentford winger TariqeFosu has been sent home from the Ghana camp after he reported late. To this effect, he will miss the games against Morocco and Ivory Coast. Fellow winger Mubarak Wakaso will also miss the two matches as he was unable to travel from China due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Young players Kamal Sowah and KamaldeenSulemana will miss the two aforementioned friendly games as well for various reasons.