Ian Wright names Arsenal's best starting XI following summer signing Thomas Partey

Former Arsenal man Ian Wright has named what he thinks is the Gunners' best starting XI following the summer signing of Thomas Partey but has left four regulars out of it. Mikel Arteta's side secured the signing of Partey from Atletico Madrid on the transfer deadline day. Speaking on The Kelly and Wrighty Show, Wright said: "I think when you look at the Thomas Partey signing, it’s the kind of signing where that’s who we wanted. "We’re not talking about a midfielder where people may feel is just a stopper and a destroyer and then pass the ball to the next man. This guy can progress the ball. "And the problem that Arsenal have had is that, as well as Dani Ceballos can play on the ball and as well as [Granit] Xhaka produces nice passes, they don’t progress it. And that’s what Thomas Partey will do. "He’ll get the ball into nice areas, he can run with the ball and pass the ball and hopefully he can activate the right-hand side just as much as Arsenal’s left-hand side. "What Mikel Arteta wants to do – and, yes, they do play to play counter-attacking because at the end of the day we have to stay deep because we’ve got the pace up front to hurt teams – but now you get a midfielder where we can say: 'If we win it, we can be a little more constructive'. "Because you can’t have a player like Aubameyang scoring two goals in one game and then in another game he’s totally isolated. "So you’ve got a midfielder now who can, alongside someone like Willian and hopefully [Nicolas] Pepe will continue to get better, people who can create further forward up the pitch. "The thing with him having to play at Atletico Madrid is that, yes, he’s had to play a different kind of way but I think he was actually suppressed at Atletico Madrid because of the kind of midfielder he is. "I think people may feel he’s a different kind of player and that’s why they might think he’s just one of those destroyers. "He’s totally the opposite and that’s what I’m excited to see from him." Naming the Arsenal's best eleven following the signing of Partey, Wright named Granit Xhaka alongside him rather than the on-loan Dani Ceballos in a 3-4-3 formation. Ian Wright's best Arsenal XI: Bernd Leno; Gabriel Magalhaes, David Luiz, Kieran Tierney; Hector Bellerin, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Bukayo Saka; Willian, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He added: "I’d love to see this team because I think that starting XI playing at the top of their game, maybe Pepe could take Willian’s place if he continues his form, but you look at that left side it’s awesome, natural. "Those three guys there, Xhaka, Saka and [Kieran] Tierney are all left-footed so there’s a natural balance there and Aubameyang coming in off the left. "You’ve got Willian, Partey will be coming through, Gabriel, with the experience of David Luiz there, Hector Bellerin is playing some of his best football. "I’m really pleased to see him back to something like we know how good he is and I think [Cedric] Soares is maybe pushing him and that’s a good thing. That, for me, is Arsenal’s strongest team, maybe with Pepe in it." source - Express Join us Telegram

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