Our man of many Parts

The Gunners manager splashed out £ 45m on the Atletico Madrid midfielder on deadline day – a significant statement of intent by the club – and is set to give the Ghanaian his debut at Manchester City this evening.

Arteta believes Partey, 27, can give Arsenal a driving force from midfield that they have lacked since he took over last December.

The Spaniard said: “I think Thomas is going to give us more versatility in our way of playing.

“He will give us something that at the moment we don’t have in the team.”

Partey, who has netted 10 goals in 30 senior caps for Ghana, was tracked by Arsenal for some time before they moved to trigger his get- out clause last month.

Arteta added: “We need a balance between the young players we have in breakthrough or development phases and others that are at the peak or twilight of their careers.

“Thomas is the right recruit for us in terms of age, his history and career, where he has been educated, the amount of experi

PUT YOUR SHIRT ON ME: Thomas Partey in his new strip and with Arteta ence he has and the quality that he has to adapt to our game.”

But the Arsenal boss pleaded for fans to give their new man time to adapt to the pace and aggression of the Premier League, despite his strength, speed and range of passing

“There is a lot of expectation, but we have to give players time to adapt,” said Arteta.

“The Spanish league and the Premier League are completely different, the style of play of Atletico and ours have some big differences as well.

“What is unquestionable is the quality of the player and the level he has been playing in the last five or six years.

“That obviously will be a big help.

“If he has the support of the coaching staff, players and fans that I can see, then obviously the adaptation will be quick.”