It was time for a celebration of some sort for Arsenal fans on Thursday evening, as Thomas Partey made a huge impact on his full debut for the Gunners.
Partey was a very late mover on transfer deadline day, joining Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for £45 million late in the day, when the north London cub finally activated his transfer release clause.
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The Ghana midfielder started from the bench against Manchester City on the weekend, coming on as a late replacement for Granit Xhaka, but was in the starting XI on Thursday against Rapid Wien.
Mikel Arteta's side started their Europa League campaign with a 2-1 win, after the hosts had taken the lead, and Partey certainly impressed.
A highlight package of his performance shows exactly why the 27-year-old was being spoken about after the game.
After the match, his new manager was certainly pleased with his performance. "I think he held the midfield by himself in the second-half when we were a little bit more open and started to take more chances attacking certain spaces with some players," Arteta said.
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"But I think he was fantastic tonight and there is much more to come from him obviously."
Partey's stats certainly spoke for themselves as well.
Champions League winning midfielder Owen Hargreaves was certainly impressed with the former Atleti midfielder's performance, telling BT Sport, "Thomas Partey had one of the best debuts I've ever seen.
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"This guy makes it look so easy. Everybody is looking to him. He runs the whole game, you can tell he's been playing in the Champions League - it's too easy for him."
Partey managed to win the Man of the Match award as well, as Arsenal went top of their group in Europe, and fans will be hoping he carry the form over to Sunday, when they face Leicester City in the Premier League.
Featured Image Credit: PA/BTTopics: Football News, Europa League, Atletico Madrid, Premier League, Arsenal
