Both Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and manager Mikel Arteta have singled out Thomas Partey as the type of player Arsenal didn't have before the Ghanaian arrived at the club earlier this month.
Partey joined the Gunners in a £45million deal from Atletico Madrid on transfer deadline day, and made his first appearance for the Gunners in last weekend's 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.
His first start then followed on Thursday in the 2-1 Europa League win over Rapid Vienna, and Aubameyang was impressed with the sense of responsibility that his new teammate showed.
"Thomas has been great since joining the club," said Aubameyang in the matchday programme for Sunday's clash at home to Leicester.
"He has integrated so well in the squad. He is kind, calm and smiley. On the pitch, we have seen already seen what he will bring us in matches.
"My family is from Gabon, but I also have some roots in Ghana where Thomas is from, so we are family, too!
"It is good for some of our younger players as well to have a player like him, of his calibre at training. They will learn a lot from him."
"He is so strong physically but yet so good on the ball as well," he continued.
"We didn't really have a profile like this in our squad before. In terms of ball progression, beating the press, going forward, he will be very important for us."
Arteta agrees, and is delighted with the new signing.
"It is about finding the cohesion in the team and the fluidity with and without the ball what we want," he said.
"Finding some specificity was in my opinion lacking in the squad, to get the pieces in the right places where everyone is comfortable doing their job that we give them to do. I think we are much more balanced.
"I was really impressed because he looked really confident, he grabbed the game in the most difficult period, he took responsibility, he was really comfortable on the ball, he made a lot of right decisions, he was really strong in the challenges in every transition moment."
Where will Arsenal finish this season? Have your say in the comments below
Sign up for the Mirror Football newsletter here
