Arsenal told to sign Premier League ‘upgrade’ on Partey and rectify ‘pricey’ oversight

Former Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre thinks West Ham midfielder Declan Rice would be an “upgrade” on Gunners star Thomas Partey.

Partey is part of the reason why Arsenal have had such a good campaign in the Premier League with the Gunners currently two points clear at the top of the table.

However, their 4-1 defeat to second-placed Manchester City on Wednesday night means the title race is now out of their hands with the Citizens having two games in hand on Mikel Arteta’s men.

Partey is one Arsenal player who has been off top form in recent weeks with the Gunners only picking up three points in their last four matches and Silvestre thinks better competition will help the Ghana international next season.

Silvestre told bettingexpert.com: “I think Partey has been excellent this season and he has played his best football for Arsenal. So, I expect him to respond and go back to his best after a few bad games.

“But obviously, every top club needs competition and Declan Rice, with all the respect for Thomas Partey, would be an upgrade, for sure.”

A back injury to William Saliba recently has seen Rob Holding start the last four matches in his place and Silvestre reckons Arsenal will need to improve the depth of their defence ahead of next season.

Silvestre added: “The lack of centre backs has been pricey for Arsenal and we knew from the beginning in the season that it would be the case. And now we can see that an injury can ruin a lot, so they would need to strengthen that position for the next season.

“Yes, Saliba has been very important but there is also the fact that Ben White has played as a right back the whole season, so when an injury to Saliba happens, you can’t just put him in as the centre half because then the whole defensive structure will fall apart in some way.

“I think that Arsenal need to add one player per line in the transfer window. So, definitely the centre-back should be prioritised and I’m sure that they are looking for one.”

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale claims that the Gunners aren’t giving up their Premier League title dream despite their shattering loss at Man City.

Ramsdale said: “We’re going to be disappointed now but we haven’t played nine months of Premier League football, and played the way we wanted to play, to give up with five games to go.

“If anything is going to happen in football, it is this league it is going to happen in. It might not do – but stranger things have happened in the Premier League.

“You see how tight it is at the bottom, you see how tight it is at the top, so we are going to be pushing every game – with five games left we need to win five games – and we will see how that ends at the end of the season.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ll get over it and the manager will do what the manager does and dissect it and tell us and we will do everything we can.”

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