Thomas Partey is Atlético Madrid's new hero. Without much fanfare, he has cemented a role in Diego Simeone's system following Tiago's injury and in the last couple of weeks he has been pivotal in the club's rise back to the summit.
Partey has had to battle every step of the way on his own road to the top and will not relinquish his new-found status without a fight
The 22-year-old was born in the small town of Odumase Krobo, in the south of Ghana, where his parents and seven siblings still live. He sends part of his salary there every month to help his family make ends meet, and also travels back home as often as possible, as red tape has so far prevented them from making the trip to Spain.
Thomas first caught the eye of Ernest Sorgbogour, a partner in the company JJ Sport together with Spaniards José Carnicero and his son, when he was playing for local outfit Odometah as a kid.
"Our partner spotted him and we started to monitor him like we do many others, but Thomas stood out above the rest at a very small club that his father was in charge of, and we decided to try to bring him to Spain. We convinced his dad and brought him over for a trial with Atlético's Juvenil B side [under-18s]", Carnicero Jr explained.
Partey didn't take long to persuade Javi Baños, then a coach at the Atlético academy, of his talent. "I remember that day perfectly. It was 12th October 2011 and we played a friendly against Getafe because we needed to run the rule over some midfielders. We didn't even need the whole match to see that we had to keep Thomas. After 45 minutes we were sold. He was good on the ball, could go past people, had a fine right foot, offered balance to the team and was a really humble lad", Baños recounted.
Source: Marca