There are just two months left of the Premier League season, and Arsenal are still within a chance of lifting that trophy for the first time in 20 years.
The Gunners' position looked far from certain at the start of the year, but Mikel Arteta's side have finally found a cutting edge to complement their steely defence.
There were plenty of discussions earlier in the season about whether the north Londoners had regressed from last year, but any such conversation has been thoroughly put to bed now.
What makes their recent run of form even more impressive is that it's happened while several first-teamers, such as Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, have been absent. While they'll have a role to play in the coming years for Arsenal, another star who's been out for some time probably won't, and he should've been sold in the summer.
Thomas Partey's value in 2020
The player in question is Ghana international Thomas Partey, who signed for Arsenal in October 2020 after completing a £45m move from La Liga giants Atlético Madrid, where he had spent the last seven years.
GK – Bernd Leno
CB – Granit Xhaka
CB – Gabriel Magalhães
CB – David Luiz
RWB – Hector Bellerin
CM – Dani Ceballos
CM – Thomas Partey
LWB – Kieran Tierney
LW – Bukayo Saka
RW – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
ST – Alexandre Lacazette
The 27-year-old made his full debut for the Gunners on the 25th of that month in a 1-0 home defeat to Brendan Rodgers' Leicester City. He would make 33 appearances in that first season and provide three assists, although his game time was limited thanks to three separate injuries – a sign of things to come.
The following year wouldn't be much better for the Krobo Odumase-born star, as he would make just 26 appearances for the club, thanks to yet more injuries that saw him miss 19 games and 152 days of action.
His absence was keenly felt by the Gunners, who slumped to a fifth-place finish after losing two of their final games, including a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.
Luckily, Partey's third season with the club was far and away his best. While he did suffer more injuries, which saw him miss six games, he was able to make 40 appearances for the first time since coming to England and played a pivotal role in the Gunners' title charge for much of the year.
2020/21
33
0
3
2021/22
26
2
1
2022/23
40
3
0
2023/24
6
0
0
Total
15
5
4
That said, his form, much like the team's, dramatically fell away towards the end of the season, and it was beginning to look like he could be moved on as rumours concerning Declan Rice started to heat up.
Thomas Partey's value in 2024
Rice joined the team in July for a British record £105m and has spent the majority of the season playing in Partey's favoured position of defensive midfield. It's not because Arteta prefers the Englishman – although he might – it's because he is injured again.
In fact, the 30-year-old has had his worst season yet in terms of availability, making just six appearances, spending 168 days on the sidelines, and missing 32 games.
2020/21
3
81
21
2021/22
3
152
19
2022/23
2
29
6
2023/24
2
168
32
Total
10
430
78
This lack of game time has seen Partey's value plummet in recent months, and according to the CIES Football Observatory, he is now worth just €15m, which is about £13m, or £32m less than what he cost the Gunners three and a half years ago.
With this in mind, it's starting to look like the club should have sold the "careless" midfielder, as journalist Josh Bunting described him, in the summer, or at the very least in January.
The MailOnline reported that Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli was interested in July, while Sky Sports Italy reported that Juventus were interested just a month later, in August.
While there is a chance that these stories could've simply been wild speculation, there's no smoke without fire.
Arsenal paid £7.3m per goal for a flop who earned more than Trossard does
The tricky star couldn’t recreate his magic in red and white.
ByJack Salveson HolmesMar 6, 2024
Ultimately, with the former Atlético star missing a total of 78 games since joining the club in October 2020 and the recent arrival of Rice, who has arguably played his role better, it's hard to avoid the feeling that Arsenal really should have cashed in on Partey last summer.
When he finally leaves the club, it'll either be for very little or nothing.