Mikel Arteta has bullishly insisted Thomas Partey will not be sold this summer despite Declan Rice’s arrival. The 30-year-old midfielder’s future at the club appeared to be in the balance after Arsenal paid a British record £105m to West Ham for Rice. But Arteta is clear Partey will not leave.
“Thomas Partey is a super-important player for us and for me and we want him to be in the team,” the manager said in New Jersey during Arsenal’s tour of the US. “They can play together [he and Rice]. That was in my plans – if you want to improve the squad and have more quality we need players who can play together and need players in the same positions who have to fight for their places. It’s something we haven’t had in the last few years.
“We want to improve that and that’s why we brought in Declan as well. Every time I spoke to him [Partey] and had a conversation with him he’s ready to stay with us.”
Arsenal led the Premier League for 248 days last season but Manchester City overhauled them to win the title. Arteta denied there would be a hangover for his players. “What happened was probably necessary to learn the lessons that you have to learn to get better and be successful and achieve what we want to achieve,” the Spaniard said. “We know the complexity of the league and the rivals that we have but I’m sure they don’t want to play us.
“The level is going to go up and the teams are getting better and the league is getting stronger so it’s only going to get harder. We have to be better and do things better than we did last year and that’s what we’re working on.”
The Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, talking about Russia’s invasion of his homeland, Ukraine, had praise for the US for allowing pilots in Ukraine to be trained to fly F-16 fighter jets.
Zinchenko said: “I would like to say a massive thanks to the US and the rest of the world, which is helping us a lot in this tough moment. People have fatigue from this war but we cannot give up. We need to fight for our freedom and independence.
“Imagine the place where you were born and raised, one day the other country comes and destroys, and kills kids, to do what? Today it’s Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be your country.”
Zinchenko referenced Wednesday’s 5-0 victory over the MLS All Stars in Washington. “The show before the kick-off was unbelievable – F16s were flying above [and] I know 100% how important it is for us to have them,” he said. “We need these F16s to return our land and our territories. I have this mission and if I have the opportunity to say that I have to do it.”
The 26-year-old will captain Team Zinchenho against Team Shevchenko, led by Andriy Shevchenko, in the Game4Ukraine charity match at Stamford Bridge on 5 August to raise money to rebuild infrastructure in the country. “It’s so important to make these kind of events,” he said.
