That’s good for us.
Don’t think he’ll play much part against city but hopefully increase his minutes after that. Shame is we’ve been chasing games since that Sheffield United result so not had much chance to throw him in.
Played 60 mins in a friendly against QPR
That’s great! Now if we factor in the inevitable setback from playing the friendly he should be available for selection when Al-Hilal start their season!
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Sometimes I joke to myself that if/when Partey moves on to another club, his Athletico availability will return 
. Makes it all the more important that we got the Declan Rice deal done when we did + Jorignho bossing it lately.
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Tbh it’s Jorginho filling the gap for Partey more than rice. Obviously nobody is like for like but great that we’ve found a way to manage without him.
Such a tragedy we haven’t been able to really watch any of the Rice - Partey - Odegaard midfield. Having been blown away by how Rice has taken to his role and to the club, do now think that trio is almost the perfect midfield. The balance of pace, power and technique is unmatched.
Gutted if we sell Partey before seeing it regularly but expect it to happen.
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If Partey wants to run down his contract, I’m not against it. Partey (even for half a season), Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard and Havertz is a fantastic five. Nwaneri as an up and comer. I think we could do with another body to replace Lokonga, Vi**ra and Sadly ESR.
Replace Jorginho and Partey next summer.
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The more I’ve thought about this the less I support my own thoughts from earlier on this evening.
If we’re going from having defensive midfield back-ups like Elneny and Lokonga to having Jorginho and Partey then we’re in a far better place. This is bullet-proofing the squad and hopefully that’s the aim for the summer.
As you were…
yeah, if we are not getting a good price to sell, better not sell but rather keep the body.
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I am. Let’s get money for this guy. We messed up not doing it last summer, don’t wanna make the same mistake twice.
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This is in hindsight surely, the optics would of been disastrous to sell our best midfielder then.
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Depends what the offers are tbh, we aren’t some peasant selling club that needs every cent it can rub together.
What would we get? 15 to 20m? I’d rather keep him. We’re not exactly reliant on him amymore.
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If a Saudi club offered us 40 plus, then yes, he can go. His availability is a concern.
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Tbf I was bullish on selling him last summer just on the assumption we needed money and not trusting his health. I didn’t think it would be this bad though.
I can see us keep him unless we get a ridiculous offer from somewhere, most likely the Saudis. A lot will also depend on our FFP/PSR limits.
On the pitch, we have moved on from him being a starter but he’s still a great backup to have, which is what he’s now.
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The guy hasn’t even done a full 90 for us yet. This is such recency bias
Are you saying he can’t be trusted as a backup because of his injuries? If so, am not suggesting that we don’t add more depth to the midfield just because Partey might stay.
Nah I’m saying that he’s more than a backup. Once he’s fully fit we have one hell of a (good) problem on our hands because he’s that good. I genuinely think he still walks into the starting 11 if he gets there.
https://twitter.com/kimmoFC/status/1774716125923754070
Much, much better performance. I was a bit worried with how rusty he looked before the international break but he looked much sharper yesterday. Still not 100% but even as he is he looked much better than Jorginho. We need them both along with Rice to finish as strong as possible.
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Should start vs Luton, he needs minutes in his legs, 60mins vs a relegation team at home should be perfect.
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