Arsenal have been dealt a huge injury blow ahead of next week's North London Derby.
Mikel Arteta would have been hoping to have a near full-strength squad for the clash against Tottenham on October 1. But the Spaniard will now be sweating on the fitness of Thomas Partey, who reportedly picked up a knock while on international duty.
The midfielder, who has been a key player for Arteta when fit, was due to start for Ghana against Brazil on Friday night. However, he pulled out of the line-up following the warm up.
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"Thomas Partey has been replaced by Baba Idrissu," the official Ghana Twitter account tweeted 10 minutes before kick-off. According to LondonWorld's football writer Rahman Osman, Partey picked up a knock during the warm-up.
He tweeted: "I’m hearing Thomas Partey has pulled out of Ghana’s game against Brazil due to knock. Was in the line-up to start but felt something during warm-up. Not the news Arsenal fans would like to hear."
Partey had been named as part of the Black Stars squad for their final preparations ahead of the World Cup despite missing four games in a row due to a recurrence of a troublesome thigh injury that has affected him ever since completing his £45m transfer in the summer of 2014. The severity of Partey's latest injury is not yet known.
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