Arsenal's Thomas Partey has come into some heavy criticism with a former England international claiming that the Ghanian would not be able to lace the boots of Manchester City's Rodri
Former Tottenham forward Darren Bent has lain into Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey in an attempt to extol the qualities of his Manchester City counterpart Rodri Hernandez.
Bent praises Manchester City’s Rodri
Bent works as a pundit on British radio TalkSport and following Manchester City’s brilliant decimation of Real Madrid in the Champions League, the 13-time England international labelled the Cityzens’ defensive midfielder as the best in the world in his position.
Bent was originally asked about West Ham’s Declan Rice, who is expected to move to Arsenal in the summer in a deal worth £120 million, but the former Spurs man could not stop himself from gushing about Rodri.
Bent said, “It looks like Declan [Rice] is going to go in the summer, and listen Declan’s a fantastic player.
“They’re talking about him being sold for £120 [million]. What’s Rodri [worth] then? £150 [million]? At least!
Bent makes scathing Rodri and Partey comparison
Bent explained exactly why he was certain that Rodri was the best in the world, lauding the Spanish midfielder’s best qualities.
“Do you know what it is? He can attack, he can score, he can defend, and when I talk about the holding midfield role, dictating the tempo of the game, he does that really well,” Bent said before continuing, “He always picks the right pass, he’s strong. He never gives the ball away. For me, he’s the best holding midfielder in the world. I can’t think of anyone better.”
In an attempt to explain how highly he rated Rodri, Bent took a swipe at Arsenal’s Ghanaian midfielder Partey, whom he claims to have rated highly at the start of the season.
The former Tottenham forward said, “At the start of the season, for my sins, I was saying it was Thomas Partey. At the start of the season, [he was] unbelievable. He can’t lace Rodri’s boots now!”
Bent’s sentiment is not uncommon, as Partey has come in for some criticism at the tail end of the season as his dovetailing performances have also led to Arsenal’s title challenge dwindling.
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