Mikel Arteta has given a fresh update on the long-term injury to Thomas Partey, saying he is hopeful that the midfielder can make a return in the next few weeks.
Partey’s long-standing injury issues stretch as far back as September, when he picked up a groin injury that saw him miss wins over Manchester United, Everton and Bournemouth but crucially the 2-2 draw against Tottenham is where his absence was felt.
Partey came off the bench against Manchester City at the start of October but picked up another injury in the training session prior to Arsenal’s Champions League tie against Sevilla two weeks later, after being an unused substitute in 2-2 with Chelsea.
Now burdened with a thigh issue, Partey has missed 11 Premier League games since his return against City and it has also been confirmed by Arsenal and Ghana’s head coach Chris Hughton that Partey will miss the African Cup of Nations to allow for more recovery time.
“It was about common sense, he had a long-term injury,” Arteta replied when asked why Partey was excluded from Ghana’s squad.
“He was trying to push his rehab because he really wanted to be with his national team, but he’s still far from training with the team and it didn’t make sense for him to be involved.
“Hopefully it is weeks [for his return to the squad]. When and how many weeks is going to depend a little bit on how [long] the next step, training with the team, will take him. But he is progressing well.”
Looking deeper into Partey’s injury problems at Arsenal reveals he’s missed a total of 42 Premier League games, and that’s not including the League, FA and European Cup games.
Partey missed just seven games for Atletico Madrid before making the move to England, highlighting the misfortune of the midfielder’s time at Arsenal after such a stellar debut season.
