Thomas Partey says Arsenal had a ‘great season’ despite seeing their Champions League hopes collapse in the run-in.
The Ghanaian, 28, missed Arsenal’s final nine Premier League matches with a thigh injury picked up in a 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace.
His absence had a detrimental impact on the Gunners, with defeats at Tottenham and Newcastle United in May dropping Mikel Arteta’s team to the Europa League.
However, with a young side, Arsenal were thought to have overachieved and their performance against Manchester City at the Emirates in January was widely praised.
The north Londoners gained a first-half lead through Bukayo Saka but ended up losing 2-1 after going down to ten men due to Gabriel Magalhaes’ red card.
Speaking to Joy Sports, Partey said: ‘For me, winning is the most important.
‘It’s important to play well and have dominance in the game but in the end, if you don’t win, you don’t feel happy personally.
‘They (Manchester City) were the best team at that moment and we were able to play them at that level. In that end, we had a great season, short in the end but we had a great season.’
Having formed a strong partnership with Granit Xhaka, Arsenal struggled to cover Partey’s injury lay-offs last season.
Mohamed Elneny performed well towards the end of the campaign, but his limitations were exposed against Spurs and Newcastle.
Meanwhile, Sambi Lokonga failed to show he was ready to start in the Premier League following his move from Anderlecht last summer.
As a result, Arsenal are believed to be looking for a new central midfielder in the transfer window and have been linked with Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans.
It has been reported that the Belgian, who has just a year left on his contract, is available for around £25million.
Speaking earlier this year, Arteta said he wants a squad of 22 top-class outfield players and three goalkeepers ahead of next season.
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