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FEATURE: A diamond in the middle of nowhere - Thomas Partey reflects Atléti's values

Published on: 20 December 2019

FEATURE: A diamond in the middle of nowhere - Thomas Partey reflects Atléti's values

Thomas Partey is one of the leaders of Atletico Madrid, and his story is a story of patience, dedication of loved ones, but also about great risks that paid off. Today, it moves the imagination of the next generation of hundreds of African villages.

Childhood dreams

When, in spring 2005, Europe went to sleep after another exciting evening with the Champions League, the most important match was just beginning at Equator. Dusk and parents' calls could not stop him - a group of young boys enthusiastically ran out into the street to repeat the plays that a moment earlier delighted them on the screens of outdated TVs. Normal stones served them as gates, and sharp curbs as substitute benches and stands. But the makeshift conditions did not diminish them in any way. In their childhood imagination they were like Gerrard, Eto'o or Ronaldinho, and to add the right rank to the game, they sang the memorandum of the Champions League before the first kick of the ball.

Most of them, boys from the small town of Odumase Krobo in the south of Ghana, probably never left Africa. Perhaps some stayed and dealt with the most profitable business in this part of the country - the production of lamp pearls, or glass beads, which are traded by several hundred people at the local market twice a week. But one of them managed to get out of there. He put everything on one card and turned children's dreams from the asphalt field into reality.

The offer cannot be refused

- For someone who comes from such a place, reaching the world leaders is extremely difficult. I was very lucky thanks to my dad, who played a key role in my career. He ran a football club from our city, I took my first steps there. He made many sacrifices, sold his things so that he could buy me professional playing shoes. He didn't tell me about it then. He knew that I would not agree to it - recalls Thomas Partey.

Thomas's father set his son's honor as a point of honor. He repeated that when he as a teenager dreamed of a football career abroad, there was no one who wanted to help him. Little Thomas was supposed to reach his father's unfulfilled dreams.

It is hard for young boys in a country like Ghana to dream about anything else. Football is for them the only way to get out of poverty, which, unfortunately, is also well known to talent hunters who easily prey on the desire for a better life.

The phenomenon of bringing underage African footballers to Europe has been common for many years. Despite the prohibitions and regulations of FIFA, it is still practiced. Dutch lawyer Ronny van der Meij, whose specialty is international sports law, has calculated that there are around 20,000 young Africans living in Europe who were once bluffed with a fortune for playing football. Most of them stayed on the ice, abandoned by their agents after failing the first club tests. The deepening poverty, war and social unrest in Africa only make it easier for dishonest talent hunters to carry out shady businesses. Even the Spanish director Miguel Alcantud looked at this phenomenon, and the stories of several such players showed in the movie "Diamantes negros".

- If so many people die on boats on their way across the Mediterranean, how can you resist the invitation of a gentleman in a white suit who announces that you will become a football star? Alcantud asks rhetorically.

Thomas found himself in a similar situation when during one of the matches he was spotted by an agent from Europe associated with the company JJ Sport, which deals with bringing talented players to the Old Continent. In the laconic scout report you could read that Thomas is "a player who can play well in two different positions, he is mature for his age, he likes to attack and move higher in search of the goal." Reference points - Yaya Toure and Steven Gerrard.

Young Thomas and his father were aware of the dangers that may await a teenager from Africa after arriving in Europe. However, they both did not even consider them. They knew it was an offer you couldn't refuse. - In Ghana, every boy grows up dreaming of achieving success in football. This desire is stronger than any fear. Already when I was 10 years old, I left home to play in another city. I never complained, I didn't think that something could happen to me, "recalls Thomas.

The teenager moved to the capital of the country, Accra, where he was training and waiting for a flight to Europe under the care of an agent. When it came time to travel to Spain, he did not call home. - Nobody in my family was aware of that. If I told them I would have a lot of trouble. My mother was always worried that something might happen to me. That is why I decided that I had to do what was best for them. My parents learned that I was not in the country until after six or seven months. They understood and accepted my decision. The next month they sent me money for new shoes - says Thomas.

Only before boarding the plane did he learn that the direction of travel was Madrid.

Footballer of the future

In Ghana, they were not afraid that Thomas would be gone after leaving. Already in 2010 he was known in the national football world. As a junior, he was noticed by a team from the second league from Ghana, quickly won a place in the first team and had his participation in the promotion to the highest class. Word spread quickly. - I knew that he would become a star because he could play well in all positions. I exhibited him as a defensive or offensive midfielder, or a middle or right defender. He was always a good boy, full of respect for others, he was not afraid of challenges - describes Ibrahim Issaka, one of the first trainers of Thomas in Ghana.

Like in the country, in Madrid Thomas made an instant career. In the winter of 2011, after several days of training, he appeared in the first friendly match against Getafe. When Atletico Juvenil B's coach Javier Banos saw him in action, he firmly stated that "this boy is not going anywhere." After four months, Thomas was already training with junior team A, and a season later he received a professional contract and a chance to train with the first team Rojiblancos. - As soon as we saw him, we knew that he was a footballer of the future. Natural talent - emphasizes Alfredo Santaelena, Atletico academy coach and former club player.

On the field, Thomas wanted to attack with strength Yaya Toure and keep rivals with the intelligence of Michael Essien. He also watched new colleagues from the cloakroom, including Gabi, who impressed him with the way he conducted the second line of Atletico. Such patterns allowed him to have everything needed to win the heart of Diego Simeone - intelligence, diligence and the ability to use his physical strength on the pitch. Training with the first team also showed weaknesses - lack of feeling of the pace of the game, moments of distraction, irresponsible losses. The 20-year-old was not yet ready for regular play in the first team Rojiblancos Simeone decided that the best solution would be for him to borrow to Mallorca, which was then in LaLiga2.

- It wasn't easy at first. Too often, I fouled, I lost the ball. But in Mallorca there were such players as Pep Lluis Marti or Alejandro Alfaro at the time. I learned a lot looking at their peace, exchanging applications without loss - recalls Thomas.

After a year, the midfielder from Ghana found another loan, but already a higher level, because of Almeria, who was playing in La Liga at the time. He won the first place again, he was an important part of the team, he scored four goals in 31 appearances. At 22, he already had strong football arguments to return to Vicente Calderon. There, however, waiting for him the murderous, legendary trainings of Professor Ortega. - They weren't easy. The first preparations cost me a lot of health, and I was injured. Everyone slid one hundred percent, I could give 50, maybe 70 - admits Thomas. Difficult preparations affected his position in the team. In the first 17 rounds he was in the Atletico match team only three times.

In January 2016, he was almost decided to go on another loan. His teammates came away from this idea. Filipe Luis assured the younger companion that at the beginning it was not easy for him. Gabi, a graduate of the Rojiblancos academy, also had to leave the club at some point to later return and become a key figure of the band.

Thomas obeyed the "elders" and took up the gauntlet in the fight for a place in Simeone's rotation. The rest is already a story we remember well - the Ghanaian was first a full-time substitute, a "sheriff" coming onto the pitch to keep calm in the middle of the field. Gradually balancing the door to the first warehouse, eventually it became a key element of Simeone's tactics.

- Now on the pitch he becomes the head of the team. He fulfills the function of Gabi before, playing in front of four defenders in the middle of the field. He is an Atletico talisman. He made huge progress. He is physically strong, runs well, fills the spaces on the pitch. Well organized tactical, positions well, plays with the ball. It makes Atletico have the right balance - characterizes Santaelena.

Brillantes de Alcobendas

Everyone in the immediate vicinity of Thomas emphasizes that, in addition to talent, the key to success was for him intelligence and firm grounding. The best testimony of this is the occupation the player deals with after hours. For several months, Thomas has been a co-owner of the Tercera Division Alcobendas Sport, which was on the verge of bankruptcy this winter. Together with partners from JJ Sport, he took over the club and gave him a new mission - to play young players from Africa who are trying to follow in his footsteps on Spain. At Alcobendas, he is a mentor to them. - If any of the boys has a problem, I like to talk to them. I tell what I went through and explain what you have to sacrifice to make your dreams come true - says the footballer.

Teenagers get to Alcobendas straight from African streets. Ultimately, at the age of 25-26, they are to be ready to compete at the highest league level. If they are not, Thomas partners from JJ Sport are looking for clubs in the lower leagues. And perhaps even more importantly, young candidates for footballers are raised by Spanish families and have education. Even if the pitch negatively verifies their skills, they will not share the fate of the heroes of "Diamantes negros". - Will the new Thomas develop in Alcobendas? I don't see any reasons why someone better would not leave here - says the 26-year-old.

As long as Thomas diamonds are still polishing in the suburbs of Madrid, Atletico has to invest so that the Ghanaian representative stays on Metropolitano. The player's progress does not escape the attention of other European clubs, and already during the previous transfer window the possibility of transfer was probed by Arsenal. The amount of EUR 50 million, which was entered as a transfer clause, seemed to be cosmic a few years ago. Today it is more comical. Interest is also shown by other major Premier League clubs, where Thomas' qualities would be perfect. Rojiblancos fans have to keep their fingers crossed for successfully negotiating the extension of the contract. Because it would be very difficult for Atletico to be equally good ambassador.

 

 

Source: olemagazyn.pl//Przemysław Drewniak

 

 

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