Partey's path from Ghana to the Gunners

Thomas Partey’s footballing journey has taken him from the lower leagues of Ghanaian football to the upper echelons of the Premier League, via eight years in the Spanish capital with La Liga giants Atletico Madrid.

He’s had to be adaptable and determined throughout that time, dealing with plenty of different challenges along the way, but his love of the sport has always been his main motivating factor.

His combative, resolute approach on the pitch has been matched by his attitude off it, since his first steps into football, back in his hometown of Odumase Krobo, in eastern Ghana.

He gradually worked his way up through the levels in Ghanaian football, before getting his big move to Europe at the age of 18. As he explains, that was a huge culture shock to what he had known growing up, but before he gets to that, our midfielder explains what life was like for him during his early days in the sport.

“My first team was called Krobo Youth,” he begins. “This was when I was about nine years old. I played there until I was 12 and then moved to a team in the suburbs of Accra called Ashaiman Revelation FC. I played for them until I was 18, which is when I moved to Spain.

“But that was the club I grew up at as a footballer. We had a good, young, talented team at the time, and I still have a few mates from that time who are now playing elsewhere in Europe. They are not at the very top now but they are still playing and I still talk with them a lot.

“For me, I grew up with my father playing football,” he continues, “so I always had a football around the home when I was young. It was the same at school with my friends there, everywhere we went I just wanted to play football. Then when I joined my first side at the age of nine, it was my life from then on. Every day I was playing football, we didn’t have any other sports we did – always football.”

So what sort of player was the young Thomas Partey? Were there signs of what was to come from him during those formative years?

“Well, when I first started, I was one of the youngest in the team, most of the guys were older than me, but I was always competitive and wanted to compete with the senior players. I think that’s why they liked me. Through my competitiveness I became one of the main figures that they all looked to. Also, I liked to look up to the senior players and learn what I could from them, and that’s how I developed at that age. I was always a team player, I always wanted to be involved with the rest of the players.

“At some points I was the captain as well, I think at under-8s, under-12s and under-14s. I loved that, it was great. We had a good team, lots of talented players and in that area we were a strong side who won most of our games. We played a lot of games against the academy sides in Ghana, and I loved those games especially.

“I was a midfielder then too,” he continues, “but sometimes as an attacking midfielder. I used to rotate my role, but really I just loved playing anywhere. Every day when I got home from school, I would play. Usually it was about three or four games a day! I would play for the under-12s, then go and play for the under-14s or 16s, then I would play with the senior and professional players. I’ve got great memories of those days.”

He can recall one of his main highlights from that time very clearly – a moment when he stepped up and scored a title-clinching goal.

“I remember when we won the league when I was with the under-14s. We played a big game to decide the title, against a very tough opponent. It was 0-0 and we won a free-kick near the corner on the right. I just had to put the free kick into the box – but I went for a half cross, half shot – and it went straight into the top angle of the goal.

"We won the game 1-0 and won the league, against a very good team. We were a good team too though, it was like a real derby, and this was the only goal of the game. It was always fun in those games, but that one was special.”

"Every day when I got home from school, I would play. Usually it was about three or four games a day!"

It’s little wonder, then, that Thomas was soon starting to get noticed further afield. It was while he was still playing in the second division of the Ghana league, that he attracted the interest of reigning Europa League champions Atletico Madrid, during the early days of management under Diego Simeone.

His passage to the Spanish capital though, was far from straightforward, as he explains: “A few weeks after I turned 18, I moved to Spain. I couldn’t travel until I was 18, because I didn’t have a passport growing up. I was in the second division in Ghana and that season we got promoted to the top division, but that was when I got my move to Spain.

“In my mind I had always wanted to play in Europe, so I knew that I had to go. It felt like magic for me, I had no idea where in Europe I would go - Spain or somewhere else – but it was always in my mind to move outside Ghana, and then I got my chance. So when my agent said I had the chance to go to Spain, I said ‘OK, I’m going. I’m leaving everything behind.’ Even though we had just got promoted.

“Everyone wanted to play in the Premier League in Ghana, that was what we had worked so hard for, but it was also my dream to move abroad. I had watched a lot of games on TV – from the Premier League, La Liga – all the top clubs. So that was always my plan. Then when I got the chance, I didn’t know if it would work, but I put all my trust in them and in the end it went well.

“Atletico Madrid wanted to sign me, but first of all I had to go to Leganes, because Atletico couldn’t sign me directly as I didn’t have a contract in Ghana. So that was short term, as a big favour from them to process my papers, then I could go to Atletico on a trial loan. That went very well, and then they signed me.”

So it was a dream move, but still, it wasn’t without its challenges. The teenage Thomas had to move continents, leaving home for the very first time, without any of his family to support him.

“Emotionally it was difficult to leave home for the first time,” the 30-year-old confirms, “but in my heart I’ve always just wanted to play football, so I would make it work. I put my mind just on doing well, trying to get selected for Atletico because it’s a big team.

"we have lots of big players and I know we are capable of doing big things"

“I remember when I arrived they had players like Falcao and Diego Costa who I had watched on TV. That was the motivation for me. I knew it was a big chance for me at a big team, so I put everything else behind me. I missed my family a lot, but I was able to control my mind to focus on staying at Atletico and doing well. We had a few other African players at the time, or French African, who were my friends, but to be honest I was really close with most of the players. I learnt a bit of English, and could interact with my teammates."

So how different was life in the dressing room compared to what he had been used to in Ghana? What were the main differences he had to adapt to?

“Well, the first difference is that in Africa we don’t have a dressing room!” he says smiling. “We just use the pitches, it’s not the same as Europe. You go straight to the game, you get changed and you play the game. It’s not like you live everyday with your teammates in the dressing room. There you just take your boots and go straight to the pitch, so moving to Europe was a big difference, but I’m somebody who gets used to every situation.

“I was quick to go along with what was happening. When we had a joke, I could join in – the problem is I didn’t understand most of the jokes at the beginning! I didn’t know why something was funny, but I always wanted to join in. I remember they used to joke with me about my hair or how strong I am – stuff like this. I learnt a lot from them, and I always enjoyed that team spirit.”

He soon settled in, and Thomas’s time in Spain would prove to be a huge success. After loan spells with Mallorca and Almeria, he returned to Atletico to become a mainstay of their midfield. He played in the 2016 Champions League final against Real Madrid, then won the Europa League and UEFA Super Cup in 2018. He had made just under 200 appearances for Atletico before signing for us in 2020, one of Mikel Arteta’s first major signings, a few months after we’d won the FA Cup.

“Coming here was a big change also,” he reflects, “because I had come from somewhere where I arrived as a youth player, so there was not that expectation on me at Atletico, and not the same responsibility. When I came to Arsenal everybody saw the transfer fee, and I was coming to a club that has a lot of eyes on it.

“Everybody knows about Arsenal, the profile, and I had arrived as one of the stars, there to help the team to grow. So it was a big change, and the style of play is different too. All I could do was stay positive, get used to it, and learn to deal with a new situation where everybody expects you to be at your very top level every single day. It was a good learning experience for me.

“One of the reasons I joined though was for that challenge. I know the Premier League is very tough, but I wanted to feel that challenge, to test myself, and feel capable of doing it. My agent supported me a lot, and my parents, and also everybody at the club was great for me. You have to stay positive, learn from everything that happens, and just control the things that you can.”

Thomas soon proved his worth to the team, winning back-to-back Player of the Month awards for us at the end of 2021/22 and dominating games last season before injury curtailed his progress.

Another injury sustained in October has meant that this season has also been hugely frustrating for the two-time Ghana Player of the Year, but he made a welcome return to action last week against Sheffield United, and is now only looking forward.

“Last year we did so well, and came very close to what we wanted to achieve,” he said. “This year we have lots of big players and I know we are capable of doing big things. It’s been tough for me, being injured for a long time, but now I am ready to give everything I can to the team. Anything I can add to our level, I will do. I worked hard during my rehab to be able to come back to the level I need to be at. Now I want to get back with the team.”