Thomas Partey: the former Arsenal midfielder facing five rape charges
What happens next with Partey's career will be determined by the outcome of legal proceedings scheduled to start with his appearance at Westminster magistrates court on 5 August. The allegations relate to three women who reported incidents between 2021 and 2022. Partey denies all the charges and 'welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name', his lawyer said.
Partey, 32, had been linked with moves to Spain, Turkey and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks after talks over extending his Arsenal contract hit an impasse, even though Arsenal's manager, Mikel Arteta, had insisted in May that he wanted him to stay. 'Consistency-wise it's been his best season,' Arteta said. 'The way he's played, performed, his availability, has been exceptional and he's a really important player for us.'
Partey joined Arsenal from Atlético Madrid in a record fee paid for a Ghanaian player – £45m – in October 2020. He struggled with injuries during his first two seasons at the Emirates but became a regular during the 2022-23 campaign when Arsenal finished as runners up behind Manchester City. A hamstring injury in November 2023 kept Partey out for most of the following season before he emerged as a key performer last season at the base of Arsenal's midfield.
The impending arrival of Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad in a £51m deal that has been in the pipeline since January affected Partey's status as a first choice, with the Spain international expected to line up alongside Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice in a recalibrated midfield.
Partey is understood to have been offered a new deal on slightly reduced terms and confirmation of his departure came with Arsenal having agreed a fee that could rise to £15m to bring in Brentford's Christian Nørgaard as his replacement. Partey made 52 appearances last season. Arsenal will face questions about whether it was appropriate for him to have continued playing while being investigated by the police over such serious allegations.
Partey moved to Europe after being spotted playing for Ashaiman Revelation FC in Accra as a teenager. 'I played for them until I was 18, which is when I moved to Spain,' Partey told Arsenal's website. 'But that was the club I grew up at as a footballer. We had a good, young, talented team at the time, and I still have a few mates from that time who are now playing elsewhere in Europe. They are not at the very top now but they are still playing and I still talk with them a lot.'
He was encouraged to attend trials in Spain by his father, who coached him as a junior, and joined Leganés before moving to Atlético in 2012. The tough-tackling player was sent on loan to Mallorca and Almería before eventually making his debut for Diego Simeone's side in 2015. He made almost 200 appearances for Atlético and was part of the side beaten in the 2016 Champions League final by Real Madrid before winning the Europa League two years later.
Partey has played 52 times for his country, scoring nine goals. Ghana confirmed last month that Partey had been 'given a break by head coach Otto Addo' after he wasn't included in their squad for the Unity Cup tournament in London. He also missed their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Angola and Niger last November after holding 'confidential' talks with Addo.
Partey has represented Ghana at three Afcon finals and the 2022 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stages. He remains one of the country's most famous figures.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
How Paul Pogba overcame the doubts to launch improbable Monaco comeback
The tears flowed as Paul Pogba signed his two-year deal at AS Monaco last week. "It is very rare to see me cry like that so I hope you enjoyed it," he joked at his presentation on Thursday. "It was a moment of joy," insisted the former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder. But the outpouring of emotion runs deeper; it is more complex, more nuanced. It has been a turbulent three years for Pogba. "There were so many images that came into my mind. We know the doping story, my injury… everything came back to me during the signing and I just couldn't hold it back," he said. A doping ban, initially for four years but reduced to 18 months following a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), coupled with injuries, have reduced the Frenchman to just over 200 minutes of football since the start of the 2022/23 season. Off-the-pitch issues have contributed to his on-pitch absence. "It is all linked. If the mind is good, it will go well on the pitch," he said on Thursday. Mentally, however, it transpired that Pogba wasn't in a good place, and that manifested itself physically, so Pogba believes. In March 2022, while still at Manchester United, he was kidnapped by masked men as part of an extortion attempt that implicated brother Mathias. Months later, he joined Juventus, but the extortion attempt followed him to Italy. Mathias Pogba phoned his brother, demanding a €13m payment and threatening to sully the player's image if the request was not met. It was not met. Mathias then claimed that his brother had used a witch doctor to put a curse on Kylian Mbappé ahead of PSG's Champions League Round of 16 tie against Manchester United back in 2019. "Paul never asked me to cast a spell on Mbappé," insisted the marabout. Although the player acknowledged speaking with a marabout, he states that it was only for help regarding the injuries that scuppered the end of his time at Manchester United and then his first year back at Juventus. After his brother was sentenced to a three-year prison, two years of which were suspended, at the end of 2024, Paul Pogba said he wished to "turn the page". By signing for Monaco, he has closed one chapter, a painful one. "I live day by day, not thinking about what happened to me in the past, [I'm] just thinking about the present and what's in front of me," he said, adding that he "hopes and thinks" that his new-found mental fortitude will keep the injuries at bay. "It's all linked," he insists. And Pogba, despite his light-hearted façade and his jokes about the dream of seeing his children "dab" when he scores a goal, he is a player, a man changed and remoulded by his recent experiences. He himself can recognise that. "It is still the same Paul Pogba, but perhaps a more determined one. You will see a determined Paul Pogba," he said. There was a particular motivation for Pogba to make his return. "He wants his kids to see him play," Monaco's CEO Thiago Scuro tells us. His kids, and his wife, were a particular source of strength over the past months. "There were moments of doubt. [Thinking that] maybe it's over; it is difficult sometimes. My family, my wife in particular, pushed me. They said it would be alright… now I feel like a kid that has signed his first professional contract," added Pogba. But there is another motivating factor to return and to do so at a club like Monaco, whose performance centre in La Turbie is just a stone's throw away from Didier Deshcamps' residence. "The France national team would be another dream, a bonus," said Pogba. Scuro added that the Frenchman has set his sights on participation in next summer's World Cup. "You can't play for France without playing for your club," recognises Pogba. And he isn't there yet. The midfielder says that playing against his formative club, Le Havre, on the first day of the Ligue 1 season in August is an "added motivation". But it is only after Pogba, followed by many of the 40 journalists in attendance at his unveiling, departs the scene that a dose of realism enters. "I can guarantee that he won't be on the pitch against Le Havre. We are here to be realistic. We expect a three-month process," says Scuro, who talks about "increasing the load" in the coming weeks. Pogba was one of 12 first-team players absent from training on Thursday. Other new signings, Eric Dier and Ansu Fati, were only partially involved. The question of whether Pogba can still be the player that helped lead France to World Cup glory in 2018 is yet to be answered and won't be answered any time soon. But as a person, he now exudes a different energy. There is still the aura, the silence as he enters the room, the bravado, and the show, but there is a seriousness, too, a steely grit and an emotional vulnerability, either previously concealed or altogether absent. Those characteristics coalesce well with the environment he has entered at Monaco. "I think I'm the oldest at the club! It's weird," jokes Pogba, who at 32 will be expected to be a leader in the dressing room. He deeply hopes that he can be a leader on the pitch, too.
The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
Liverpool players lay wreaths for Diogo Jota and brother at funeral
Liverpool players were seen carrying wreaths in memory of their late teammate Diogo Jota at the funeral for the Portugal forward and his brother, Andre Silva. Captain Virgil van Dijk and defender Andy Robertson led members of the squad, which included manager Arne Slot, Darwin Nunez and others, to the chapel in Gondomar where the service was held. Robertson and van Dijk held wreaths in the shape of red football shirts bearing Jota and Silva's numbers 20 and 30.
Reuters
23 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK police arrest over 20 supporters of now banned Palestine Action group
LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - British police arrested over 20 people on suspicion of terrorism offences after they showed support for the newly banned Palestine Action group in London, officials said on Saturday, hours after the proscription came into effect. The government moved to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws last month after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest against what the group said was Britain's support for Israel. Late on Friday, the campaign lost an urgent appeal against the parliamentary decision to proscribe it as a terrorist organisation, with the ban coming into force from midnight. Under UK laws, offences include inviting support, expressing approval, or displaying symbols of a banned group and are punishable by up to 14 years in prison and/or a fine. Britain has proscribed 81 groups under anti-terrorism laws, including Hamas, al-Qaeda and ISIS. On Saturday, supporters gathered in Parliament Square in Westminster, some holding placards that said "I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION." Sky News footage showed some being led away in handcuffs from a statue of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi in the square, as they shouted their support. United Nations experts have accused Israel of carrying out "genocidal acts" against Palestinians in the conflict in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel has repeatedly dismissed such accusations. Palestine Action has targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain in its protests, with interior minister Yvette Cooper saying that violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that the group's activities justify proscription. Critics of the decision, including some United Nations experts and civil liberties groups, have argued that damaging property does not amount to terrorism. At another protest on Saturday, the police arrested five pro-Palestine protesters from the Youth Demand group who threw red paint over a truck involved in London's Pride parade and glued themselves to the vehicle. The parade has since resumed.
