Thomas Teye Partey (born 13 June 1993) is a Ghanaian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and the Ghana national team. Partey began his professional career at Spanish club

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

in 2013, going on loan to

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

and

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

, and returned to Atlético in 2015, with whom he won the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

and

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

in 2018. In 2020, he joined Arsenal in a

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worth £45 million (€50 million), becoming the most expensive Ghanaian player of all time. A Ghanaian international, Partey represented his nation at three

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

(

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, and

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) and the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

. He was named into the

CAF Team of the Year The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards. In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten pla ...

in 2018, and won

Ghana Player of the Year The Ghana Player of the Year (or ''Ghanaian Footballer of the Year'') is an annual award from Football Association of Ghana, govern in recognition of excellence to the best Ghanaian professional association footballer of the year. The title has ...

in 2018 and 2019.

Club career

Atlético Madrid

Born in

Krobo Odumase Krobo Odumase is a town and capital of Lower Manya Krobo Municipal District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School was formerly located here. Prominent sites The town is a proposed site for the construction of ...

, Partey was a product of local club Odometah's youth ranks. He signed with

in 2012, after a short spell with

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popul ...

, and was subsequently moved to the reserves a year later. On 10 March 2013, Partey was called up to the main squad for the match against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

. However, he remained unused in the eventual 0–1 home defeat.

Mallorca and Almería

On 12 July, Partey was loaned to

, freshly relegated to the second level. On 18 August, he made his professional debut, in a 0–4 away defeat against

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental and its joint capital (co-capital), on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona. Sabadell is located above sea level. Sabadell pioneered the Ind ...

. Partey scored his first professional goal on 15 September, netting his side's second of a 2–2 draw at Hércules. On 27 July 2014, Partey joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side

on a loan. He made his debut in the competition on 23 August, starting in a 1–1 home draw against

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

. Partey scored his first goals in the main category of Spanish football on 11 April 2015, netting a brace in a 3–0 home win against

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

Return to Atlético Madrid

Partey made his first team debut for Atlético Madrid on 28 November 2015, replacing

Luciano Vietto Luciano Darío Vietto (; born 5 December 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal. Club career Early career Vietto was born in the small town of Balnearia in the Province of Córdoba. He joi ...

in a 1–0 home win against Espanyol. On 2 January of the following year, he scored his first league goal for the club, netting the game's only strike in a home success over Levante. On 28 May, he played in the

UEFA Champions League Final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of Europea ...

against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, replacing Koke in the 116th minute as his side lost on penalties. Partey signed a contract extension with Atlético Madrid through 2022 on 14 February 2017. On 31 October, he scored his first European goal with a long-range strike to equalise at home to Qarabağ in a 1–1 draw in the Champions League group game; he became the first African to score in the competition for Atlético. Following his impressive performances for the club, he was rewarded with another contract on 1 March 2018, this time until 2023. On 16 May, he played in the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final, as his side won 3–0 against

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. On 1 September 2019, Partey came on as a late substitute and netted the match's winner in the last minute of the game, as Atlético came back from 2–0 down to win the game by 3–2 against

Eibar Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat ...

. He marked his 100th

appearance for ''Los Rojiblancos'' with a

man-of-the-match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

performance in a 0–0 draw against

in the Madrid derby four weeks later. Despite leaving Atlético at the beginning of the 2020–21 season, Partey made enough appearances at the start of the season to become eligible for a winner's medal as Atlético won La Liga that year.

Arsenal

On 5 October 2020,

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

announced the signing of Partey on a long-term contract, after activating his £45 million (€50 million)

release clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...

with

. He was given the number 18 shirt, which had been vacated by

Nacho Monreal Ignacio "Nacho" Monreal Eraso ( or ; born 26 February 1986) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back or centre-back. He started playing with Osasuna in 2005, going on to appear in 144 official games over the cou ...

the previous season. Upon signing, Partey stated his desire to help Arsenal "back where

hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

belong", describing his decision to move being based on "

anting Anting () is a town in Jiading District, Shanghai, bordering Kunshan, Jiangsu to the west. It has 96,000 inhabitants and, after the July 2009 merger of Huangdu (), an area of .

to experience new challenges", while also crediting the transfer to manager

Mikel Arteta Mikel Arteta Amatriain (born 26 March 1982) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of club Arsenal. Arteta began his senior career at Barcelona in 1999 but limited playing time led to a loan to Paris ...

and technical director Edu. On 17 October 2020, Partey made his debut for Arsenal as a substitute for

Granit Xhaka Granit Xhaka (born 27 September 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Arsenal and the Switzerland national team. Xhaka began his career at hometown club FC Basel, winning the Swiss Super League in each of ...

in a 0–1 away defeat in the league against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. Five days later, he started his first match for Arsenal in a 2–1 away win over

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

in the

. Midway through a match against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

on 8 November, he suffered a thigh injury which saw him miss the rest of the month's games. He returned on 6 December in the

North London derby The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main rivals, and the derby is co ...

, but suffered another injury at half-time as Arsenal lost 2–0 to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. He did not play again until a month later, which he came off the bench in a 0–0 draw against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. On 22 October 2021, Partey scored his first goal for Arsenal in a 3–1 win against

. In February 2022, Partey was named Arsenal's player of the month.

International career

In May 2016, Partey was called up for the first time to the Ghana national team by manager

Avram Grant Avraham "Avram" Grant ( he, אברהם "אברם" גרנט; born Avraham Granat; ) is an Israeli professional football manager. He has spent the majority of his career coaching and managing in Israel, winning a number of national league and cup ...

, ahead of a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. He made his debut on 5 June, replacing Frank Acheampong for the final 11 minutes of a 2–0 away win that booked the Black Stars' position in the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. On 5 September 2017, Partey scored his first international hat-trick in a 5–1 win against Congo in

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

. Partey was chosen in Kwesi Appiah's 23-man squad for the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

in Egypt. In their last group game, he scored in a 2–0 win over

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

at the Suez Stadium as the Black Stars topped their group. He netted in the penalty shootout at the end of the last-16 game against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

on 8 July, though his team was eliminated. Partey won

in 2018 and 2019. Ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, as well as for the

qualifiers, Partey was named Ghana's vice-captain. In November 2022, Partey was called up to the 26-man Ghana squad that would compete in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

for the

Media

Partey was involved in the Amazon Original sports

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' All or Nothing: Arsenal'', which documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their 2021–22 season.

Personal life

In March 2022, Partey converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

at a mosque in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In June, it was reported that he had changed his first name to Yakubu as part of his

religious conversion Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

, while remaining Thomas Partey both legally and professionally; he said days later that he had changed his name back to Thomas. In June 2022, Partey was made a chief of the Manya Krobo people of the

Eastern Region of Ghana The Eastern Region is located in south Ghana and is one of the sixteen administrative regions of Ghana. Eastern region is bordered to the east by the Lake Volta, to the north by Bono East Region and Ashanti region, to the west by Ashanti region, ...

by their leader

Sakite II Nene Sakite II (born in Odumase) is the fifth and reigning ''Konor'', or paramount chief, of the Manya Krobo, enstooled in 1999.Daniel Miles McFarland, ''Historical Dictionary of Ghana'', Scarecrow Press, 1995, p. 120.Roger Gocking, ''The Hist ...

, as a reward for captaining the team to

qualification at the expense of neighbours Nigeria.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Ghana score listed first, score column indicates score after each Partey goal.''

Honours

Atlético Madrid *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

: 2017–18 *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

runner-up: 2015–16 Individual *

: 2018 * SWAG Sports Personality of the Year: 2018 *

: 2018, 2019

References

External links

Profile
at the Arsenal F.C. website
Profile
at the Premier League website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Partey, Thomas 1993 births Living people People from Eastern Region (Ghana) Ghanaian footballers Association football midfielders Atlético Madrid B players RCD Mallorca players UD Almería players Atlético Madrid footballers Arsenal F.C. players Segunda División B players Segunda División players La Liga players Premier League players Ghana international footballers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Ghanaian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in England Ghanaian Muslims Converts to Islam