Thomas Partey missed Arsenal’s clash with Manchester United on Sunday September 3, after the Ghana FA confirmed he’ll miss this month’s internationals through injury.
Partey has started the Gunners last three games of the season at right-back, but Mikel Arteta will be without the Ghanaian for the visit of United, meaning a defensive reshuffle for the Spanish boss.
Partey was not called up for the latest Ghana squad for this month’s African Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Central African Republic and Liberia, with the Ghanaian FA claiming that according to the club, the midfielder will be sidelined ‘for a while’.
Explaining why Partey is not part of the latest squad, the FA released a statement saying: ‘Arsenal ace Thomas Partey is left out of the squad due to injury.
‘According to his club, the player picked up an injury in training and could be on the sidelines for a while, however the Black Stars medical teams is monitoring the situation.’ Explaining Partey’s situation before the United game, Arteta said: ‘We need a few more tests but he felt something in training, and we think he will be out for a couple of weeks.’
Partey’s move to right-back wasn’t Arteta’s original plan this season, but an injury to summer signing Jurrien Timber in the Arsenal’s opening day win over Nottingham Forest meant a change in position for the club’s number 5.
Timber is likely to be out for the majority of the season having injured his ACL on his Premier League debut.
Arteta’s men will be looking to get back to winning ways against old rivals United on Sunday, after seeing two points dropped in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Fulham. While Manchester United will also be looking for improved performance after they came back from 2-0 down to Nottingham Forest to win 3-2 last time out.
The Red Devils could hand a debut to £72m summer signing Rasmus Hojlund who has recovered from injury and could make his first appearance for Erik ten Hag’s side.
However, there’s unlikely to be a first sight of deadline day signing Sofyan Amrabat, after the confirmation of his move to Old Trafford came so late on Friday.
