Thomas Partey’s Villarreal transfer: What has been the reaction in Spain?

Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey will not be flying back to Spain with his team-mates after their Champions League opener at Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.

Partey is due in court in London on Wednesday after being charged with five counts of rape and one charge of sexual assault. The allegations relate to three separate women who reported incidents which took place between 2021 and 2022, when Partey was playing for Arsenal. The Ghana international, 32, denies all the charges.

If Partey features at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it will mark the first time he has played in England since these serious allegations came to light. The police investigation began in February 2022 and Partey continued playing for Arsenal until expiry of his contract at the end of June but, under UK law, he was not publicly named until charges were brought on July 5, the week after his contract ended at the Premier League club.

Partey appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on August 5 and was granted conditional bail. Two days later, he signed for Spanish top-flight side Villarreal as a free agent on a one-year contract, with an option for a further 12 months.

Villarreal’s decision to sign a player in this situation has drawn criticism in Spain, the UK and elsewhere.

But club president Fernando Roig has defended the move. “The player finds himself in a legal process, he maintains his innocence, and denies the accusations,” Roig said at a press conference on August 12. “It is for the British justice system to determine what happened. At the moment, Partey is as innocent as the rest of us here. Respecting the presumption of innocence is a fundamental value at Villarreal. ”