Raath Al-Samarrai: Why did Arsenal Thomas Partey continue to choose? Mikel Arteta was all too happy to choose with his husband until he was excluded

Arsenal A small comment on their website on 4 June. It was the usual for that time of year, which meant that he thanked 20 players who were released and a little more about three situations that were not solved.

Now one of the one of the last cohort was a big slag – Thomas Partey. But because his contract was almost finished, Arsenal left a leeway: “Discussions are in progress and as soon as the things have been completed between all parties, we will communicate in due course.”

Except that she did not, because Pedey left when his deal ended on June 30 and nothing was announced. Other things were published that day, such as a new beer partnership with Asahi Super Dry, but the future of Parey? Only silence.

And that was slightly interesting – Mikel Arteta Had been vocal in his desire to keep him. In fact, these were his exact words six weeks ago: ‘As far as Thomas is concerned, it was his best season in terms of consistency. I think the way he played, that he played, his availability has been exceptional and he is a really important player for us. ‘

A few days earlier he had played the full 90 against Newcastle. Next Time -Out, Op SouthamptonHe was exceptionally available again. So yes, really important. Important enough for 52 games in the 2024-25 campaign and important enough for 167 since he was joined in 2020. Important for the midfield of Arteta and also immediately back.

But not as important as Asahi super dry, it seems. Not as important as Takehiro TomiyasuBoth – the announcement of his departure ran for 200 words on the Arsenal website. They also gave 529 words to the exit of Mehmet Ali from a role that the Under 21s coached.

Party? Well, it seems that they should not mention on their website that he had really disappeared.

And of course not.

Because we have known the clumsiness in the background of Parey for some time, but the rules are clear about what we can report on investigations into rape. And those rules mean that we cannot mention names until an investigation becomes an indictment. On Friday that indictment arrived: five counts of rape, one count of sexual violence, three separate women, with accusations until 2021 and 2022.

We will say on this point that Pedey denies the charges and his lawyer says that he “welcomes the chance to finally erase his name.”

But we will also ask a few questions, because it is ‘finally’ relevant. And the reason for this is that these allegations have been the open secret of football. Fans knew, media knew and Arsenal knew it. Arrested the nameless football player in July 2022? The word quickly came around that it was Thomas Partey.

So why did Arteta continue to choose him?

This will probably be the stage when some speak about Pidey who are innocent until he has been guilty. Fair enough – it’s not for us to decide. That is for the courts. But it is not unrealistic to assume that this scenario would have played differently in other working lines. With such serious violations that are being investigated, a suspension would probably be imposed. Perhaps on full wage, which in the case of Parey was £ 200,000 a week, or maybe not, but you would probably be out of the building.

But not party. He was arrested on July 4, 2022, released on bail and played 12 days later in a friendly against Everton in the US. In that season, Arteta used him in 40 games, important enough for 2,694 minutes on the field and good for the opening goal in a derby in North Londs against Tottenham.

Maybe Arsenal thought it would disappear, but it didn’t. On November 7, 2024, after his bail had been extended a number of times and eventually lifted, he was again interviewed by the Metropolitan Police with caution. Three days later he got a start against Chelsea and before the month was out, Arsenal had risen from fourth to second place. His goal against Nottingham Forest was a screamer.

His two versions against Real Madrid in April this year were excellent, and by that time it was reported in January that the police had submitted full proof of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service. But Arteta still wanted him. He told us so much in the May. The consistency, availability, are best season – a ‘really important’ player.

The morality of those decisions? I think it comes down to what you are willing to sleep.

Again, Pedey is innocent until it has been proven otherwise. But Arteta and Arsenal were apparently happy enough to choose the side of their husbands and, more than that, they wanted him to stay.

It is the last part that is outdated in the most discouraging ways. It’s a bad look. Bad for arsenal and bad for a sport that has been previously in these situations and seems to give the impression that only results are important. As in really important.

Football has an exceptional consistency in this area-as you have the stomach, you might be able to read about the allegations of human trafficking, torture and rape that were recorded this week in an American civil case against Jonathan Barnett, the super agent who brought Gareth Bale’s step to Real Madrid from Spurs. He denies the accusations.

When the Pidey statements were known on Friday, it aroused the memory of a BBC research from a few seasons ago in which seven from the Premier League clubs had examined players or employees for sexual offices since 2020. It also reminded me that a protest group, Arsenal supporters against sexual violence, had taken a regular position outside the Emirates Stadium for the newly disappeared season.

I spoke to one of their co-founders, Honor Barber on Friday evening, and she told me: ‘I am furious as an Arsenal fan about how this continued. I cannot believe that they have driven the idea of ​​a contract extension.

‘Our supporters sent thousands of letters to the club’s leadership and never had a dialogue. This is not about one player and one club.

“Football players can be suspended because they pop up, but he continued to play despite an investigation of this nature.”

The group’s request was explained in an open letter to Arsenal in November last year. They want players to be suspended if they are investigated for criminal offenses, especially those with sexual violence, and for clubs that are excluded from renewing or expanding contracts. As it looks now, the football club has no policy for this.

It feels like a very important problem. An exceptional, even.

While we think about how Pedey quietly left through the back door, against the wishes of those who wanted him to stay, I notice that this is all terribly insufficient.

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