Speaking recently on the Ask Ornstein YouTube show, David Ornstein criticised Arsenal’s approach to the 2019/20 summer transfer window.
Following the summer market arrivals of Thomas Partey, Gabriel, Pablo Mari, Runar Alex Runarsson, Cedric Soares and Willian, things have not exactly got off to the best of starts in the 2020/21 season for Mikel Arteta’s side.
At present, Arsenal are languishing in 15th place in the Premier League table, having won four, drawn one and lost six of their 11 league fixtures, scoring just 10 goals – a record which is bettered by the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, Fulham and Newcastle United.
And, speaking on a recent episode of the Ask Ornstein YouTube show, the titular journalist took aim at Arsenal’s decision to leave their marquee signing of Partey until transfer deadline day, as this reduced the player’s settling in time in north London dramatically.
He said: “It’s fair to say the signing of Partey sent a message to the world that Arsenal’s clear priority was returning to the Champions League through a top-four finish or winning the Europa League. But, you could argue, if it was so important to them, why didn’t they activate Partey’s release clause earlier; give him some proper preparation, integration, adaptation time?”
TIF Thoughts on David Ornstein’s comments regarding Arsenal’s signing of Thomas Partey…
Considering the fact that, over his five Premier League appearances thus far, the £45 million-rated Partey has averaged a rather disappointing WhoScored match rating of 6.62 – ranking him as Arteta’s eighth-best player in the top flight – it is perhaps fair to say that the midfielder has not set the world alight thus far.
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And, as Ornstein suggests, perhaps if the club had made a move for the 27-year-old at an earlier time, in order to provide him with a bigger period of time to adjust to a new club, city and culture before throwing him into the team, it is not difficult to imagine that Partey could well be performing better than he is currently, and, in turn, could then also help to improve his teammates around him.