Why Thomas Partey is the Premier League’s most important player

Defensive midfielders may now be commanding superstar-style prices. If it is another trend that stems from Chelsea’s overspending, given their pursuit of Enzo Fernandez, it may be reflected in some of the seasons of the elite. Rodri is integral for City, Manchester United’s improvement can be traced to the way Casemiro is such an upgrade on Scott McTominay and Fred and Partey has been terrific for Arsenal. The contrast is supplied by the underachievers Chelsea, suffering in the absence of N’Golo Kante, and Liverpool, sadly lacking the Fabinho of old.

The combative Partey helped keep Erlin Haaland quiet in the FA Cup on Friday night

Arsenal offer a comparison to United: the gap between the first-choice holding player and his understudy is too big. They may have benefited when Casemiro was suspended for their meeting in London last weekend, but Partey sat out their previous trip to Manchester. Albert Sambi Lokonga was susceptible as they were caught on the counter-attack in defeat at Old Trafford. Five months later and, with Mohamed Elneny injured, Lokonga had come for Partey when Alvarez exploited the space in front of Arsenal’s back four.

That drop-off between first and second choice is one reason to anoint Partey the most important player in the Premier League. Another lies in a shift in tactics: push the rest of the midfield up to press high and the insurance policy becomes still more pivotal. As Casemiro and Rodri can testify, one player is often charged with doing the job of two. That Caicedo has similar power, and powers of anticipation and assurance in possession, suggests he is another of their rare breed.

If Arsenal’s season has seemed a triumph of the team, more than the squad, with seven starters in every Premier League game and an eighth player, Martin Odegaard, who has missed a lone match, Friday offered evidence of alternatives in many a position: in Leandro Trossard’s promising first start on the left wing, in Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s unsurprising reliability as full-backs, in Matt Turner’s decent display in goal. Rob Holding may have taken his surname too literally in his methods of dealing with Erling Haaland but January has brought Arsenal centre-back cover, in Jakub Kiwior. The last month has proved Eddie Nketiah can be a potent deputy to Gabriel Jesus.

Maybe Arteta could shift Granit Xhaka or Oleksandr Zinchenko into Partey’s position, thus affecting another role, but the area where Arsenal seemed shortest of a pedigree replacement was at the base of the midfield. And an unwanted vision of life without Partey flags up questions of who or how they can cover and if his absence prompts a colossal bid.

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