Arsenal suffered a 2-1 loss to Chelsea in a pre-season friendly on Sunday and during the game, midfielder Thomas Partey seems to have picked up an ankle injury.
Partey was on the receiving end of a tackle from Ruben Loftus-Cheek, following which he was withdrawn five minutes before half-time.
And now, manager Mikel Arteta has admitted that the injury is not looking good – hinting that the 28-year-old might remain on the sidelines for a while.
“I just had a talk with the doctor,” Arteta said after the friendly game.
“He’s going to have a scan tomorrow and at the moment it’s not looking good because he was in pain and he could not continue which, for Thomas, is pretty unusual.”
Thomas Partey missed a fair chuck of the previous season due to various injuries and if this fresh one is serious then the midfielder will be in line to miss Arsenal’s season opener against Brentford on Friday 13 August.
Arteta has revealed that Granit Xhaka will not be leaving the club this summer so even if Thomas Partey misses out with an injury, it will not be the end of the world for the Gunners boss.
Mikel Arteta on Thomas Partey’s injury: ‘At the moment it’s not looking good’
The Premier League season starts in 12 days with Brentford vs. Arsenal 🤕 pic.twitter.com/yXbGFVI6DN
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Apart from Thomas Partey, Gabriel Martinelli also remains a doubt for the Brentford game with Arteta admitting that the youngster has picked up a knock while playing for Brazil in the Olympics.
The manager said: “We don’t know [whether he will be available for Brentford]. He’s still injured.
“He picked up and injury while he was doing the preparation for the Olympics with Brazil and at the moment he’s not been able to train with us. That seems unlikely at the moment but hopefully he can recover quickly.”
The extend of Partey’s injury will be known in the next few days but Arsenal still have two weeks to nurse him back to full fitness, so the Gunners will not be sweating right now.
