Sports
Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey …10 things to know about him
Atletico Madrid midfielder, Thomas Partey, is one of the most sought-after players in Europe at the moment.
Following a very impressive season for his club, Partey has been linked all summer with a move to some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Premier League side Arsenal appear to be the favourites to land a deal for the Ghanaian, having been pursuing him since January.
The English club is, however, reluctant to pay Partey’s €50m release clause and recently had an offer of £23m plus Matteo Guendouzi rejected by Atletico.
The Spanish club is also desperate to keep him and have reportedly offered him an improved contract.
The player is still a bit of an unknown quantity to many Premier League fans off the pitch.
So here are a few things to know about Thomas Partey, posted on the official website of La Liga, as clubs continue to wrangle for his signature.
• He was born in Odumase Krobo (Ghana) on June 13, 1993, and grew up playing in teams from his home town.
• He’s the oldest of eight children in his family.
• His father runs and trains a team in Odumase Krobo, where Thomas started playing until he was nine.
• While playing for that team, his father gave him the nickname “Senegal”, because he reminded him of a friend with the same name.
• After playing for his father’s team, Thomas developed as a footballer in a neighbourhood side while waiting for new opportunities.
• The chance to take a big step up came when Tema Youth, a Ghanaian team from Division Two, spotted him. With them, he earned a promotion play-off to the Ghanaian top-flight.
• His performances were noted by the scouts and glowing reports about his abilities swept through the country. Thomas has said an agent registered interested with him in 2011 despite never having seen him play.
• His agent quickly saw his potential and decided to take him to Spain, where he was given a trial with the Atletico Madrid youth academy. The Rojiblanco coaching staff did not hesitate to sign him.
• In four months, he made the leap from their Under 18s to the Under 19s, and a season later he was already in the ‘Colchonero’ second team. He was loaned out to RCD Mallorca and Almeria before Diego Simeone would give him a run in the first team.
• He has played 26 times for Ghana’s national team, the Black Stars and scored nine goals.
Otto Addo is taking a calm and focused approach to the World Cup after being drawn against England, Panama, and Croatia in Group L.
“I look forward to every game as special,” he told ghanafa.org.
“Very important for us that we don’t underrate any team. For sure, England is the favourite in that group,” he acknowledged. “But for me as a coach, to be honest, I’m looking at each and every game equally.”
Addo is particularly focused on getting a strong start against Panama. “I’m hoping that we have a good start against Panama, that will be very, very crucial,” he said. “It will make the other games a little bit more relaxed and easier for the players psychologically. We will use the window of March for test matches, and then see,” he said.
Despite being a young team, Addo is proud of his squad’s progress. “I think we did very well in the qualifiers ” he said. “We didn’t lose a single official game, like the qualifying games, we did very well. We just played one draw and the rest we won, so we had quite a good year in 2025, after a bad year in 2024’’.
“Even though we have a very young team, we really, really did well, had a good harmony in the team, good union,” he added.
Ghana will open their FIFA World Cup campaign against Panama in Toronto on June 17 before facing England and Croatia in the other Group L matches on June 23 and 27 respectively.
The unbeaten away run of Accra Hearts of Oak will be put to the test tomorrow when they visit the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale to play as guests of Karela United. Described as one of the top-liners of the weekend games, the match will pitch one of the best home teams against the best away team, with their records on the line.
After playing a pulsating 2-2 draw with Kumasi Asante Kotoko last week, league leaders Medeama SC return to their fortress, the TnA Stadium, to welcome Berekum Chelsea FC in a clash of former league winners. Medeama have struggled in recent times to hold their own against the ‘Bibires’, losing their last four games both home and away.
However, according to Head Coach of Medeama, Tanko Ibrahim, that sequence of results will come to an end tomorrow as they look to crawl out of the claws of their opponents with victory. Eleven points separate the sides, with Berekum Chelsea lying a distant 14th position on the log. They have been a pale shadow of themselves this season, and it remains to be seen if Coach Samuel Boadu’s side can keep the bragging rights over the Yellow and Mauves in what has been described as one of their worse starts to a league season.
Today, second-placed Kpando Heart of Lions will trek to the Kwame Kyei Sports Complex in Abrankese to play as guests of struggling Nations FC. Having suffered a 1-0 away loss to Basake Holy Stars in their last game, Nations FC would look to pick all three points to better their current 12th position.
In other games, the Hohoe Sports Stadium will come alive as new boys Hohoe United FC welcome Kumasi Asante Kotoko. The Nii Adjei Kraku II Sports Complex in Tema will host the Vision FC versus Young Apostles FC game, the Tuba Astro Turf will host the Dreams FC versus Bechem United FC clash, while the Nsenkyire Sports Arena will host the Samartex FC versus Bibiani Gold Stars game. High-riding Aduana FC will sort things out with Basake Holy Stars at the Nana Agyeman Badu I Park in Dormaa.
By Raymond Ackumey
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