Arsenal Manage Mikel Arteta has confirmed the ankle injury sustained by key midfielder Thomas Partey is ‘not looking good’ with just under two weeks before the start of the Premier League season.
Partey sustained the injury during a clash with Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech during the opening game of the Mind Series pre-season tournament in which they lost 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
When asked about the extent of the injury, Arteta said: ‘I just had a talk with the doctor. He’ll have a scan on Monday.”
‘At the moment it’s not looking good because he was in pain and he could not continue which for Thomas is pretty unusual’.
The Ghanian midfielder is seen by many as the leader in the Gunners’ midfield and would be a massive loss if he was out for any length of time.
Arteta also confirmed that fellow midfielder Granit Xhaka will stay with the club following reports that he would move to Jose Mourinho’s Roma this summer.
If Partey’s injury is as bad as feared, the Gunners will have to choose two from Xhaka, Mohammed Elneny, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Joe Willock and Lucas Torreira in order to fill the void.
The other option is to go back into the transfer market for a central midfielder. They have previously been linked with Wolves’ Ruben Neves, Manuel Locatelli of Sassuolo and Lyon’s Bruno Guimaraes.
Arsenal were also reportedly in the market for an attacking midfielder and striker, but with this injury news, their plans could now change.