Former Arsenal Partey completes Al- Shabab move
Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey has joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Shabab after Villarreal opted against extending his contract, with the former Arsenal man finding a new club just over a year on from his Emirates exit.
A new chapter in Riyadh
Thomas Partey has a new home. The Ghana international has joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Shabab, who confirmed the signing this week.
It brings an end to a short and unsettled spell in Spain. Villarreal opted against triggering an extension on his deal, sending the 33-year-old back onto the open market and leaving him to find a club as the new season loomed.
From Arsenal to Villarreal to Saudi
It has been a turbulent 12 months for the midfielder. He left Arsenal last summer when his contract ran down on June 30, 2025, ending a five-year stay at the Emirates where he turned out 167 times for the Gunners across all competitions. Just days after his Arsenal exit became official, he was unveiled as a Villarreal player, penning a deal in La Liga. That move, though, was always likely to be short-lived, and with Villarreal unwilling to trigger an extension, Partey has now taken his career to the Saudi Pro League.
A career in brief
Partey arrived in English football on deadline day in October 2020, when Arsenal triggered the £45m buyout clause in his Atletico Madrid contract. He went on to become a mainstay of Mikel Arteta's midfield, racking up 130 Premier League appearances and nine goals for the club.
At international level, he has represented Ghana more than 50 times and was part of the Black Stars' preliminary squad for the 2026 World Cup.
The backdrop
Partey's transfer comes against a tangled personal backdrop. The 33-year-old is due to stand trial in 2027 after pleading not guilty to seven charges of rape and one of sexual assault, relating to allegations by four women between 2020 and 2022 — all of which he denies.
His World Cup was disrupted, too. Partey was refused entry to Canada before Ghana's opening match against Panama because of the ongoing criminal proceedings in the UK, then appeared in their other three games before they exited at the last-32 stage to Colombia.
Even so, Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz stood by the midfielder, publicly backing his inclusion in the squad. Villarreal were willing to sign him last summer while the case was open, and Al-Shabab — who finished 13th in the Saudi Pro League last season and have former Burnley captain Josh Brownhill and ex-Wolves winger Daniel Podence in their ranks — have now reached the same conclusion.