Thomas Partey will return to face Mallorca where he has spent on loan

Thomas Partey returns to the club where he spent the 2013/14 season on loan as Atletico Madrid travel to face Real Mallorca on Wednesday evening.

The Ghanaian midfielder played 37 times for Segunda Division side Mallorca over the course of the campaign and now he's looking to break back into the Atleti team.

The likes of Hector Herrera, Marcos Llorente and Koke stand in his way but, after a spell out with injury, Thomas is ready to make a strong return.

Fierce competition

Diego Simeone has been working on a midfield pairing of Thomas and Saul Niguez in training in recent days and the two are expected to start at Son Moix.

It will be Thomas' fourth start of the season after missing the game at Real Sociedad through injury.

Simeone doesn't want to think about the possibility of losing Thomas, and Atleti waved away offers from England and Italy last summer.

His strength, intelligence and defensive capabilities make Thomas a real stalwart of this new-look Atleti side.