Thomas Partey's spell on the sidelines through injury could open the door for Mikel Arteta to press ahead with his plans to integrate Miguel Azeez into the Arsenal first-team squad.
Whilst it's not yet known how long the Ghana international will be out of action with the thigh problem sustained against Crystal Palace on Monday night which ruled him out of Saturday's defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion, if last season is any indicator then he is facing up to six weeks on the sidelines which means his campaign could be over.
This is in relation to the length of time it took Partey to return for the Gunners after suffering a similar injury in the North London Derby loss against Tottenham Hotspur in December 2020 as he ended up missing 10 games in total and it took him a while to regain his match sharpness.
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Of course, Mikel Arteta will be hopeful of having Partey available for selection before the end of the season, but it's looking likely that won't be the case when Arsenal face Southampton next weekend before back-to-back games against Chelsea and fellow top-four hopefuls Manchester United.
In terms of getting through this period without Partey, the three candidates are Granit Xhaka, Mohamed Elneny and Albert Sambi Lokonga. Against Brighton, it was the latter as he made his first Premier League start since January, but after that decision backfired, Arteta may opt for something different for the trip to St Mary's and beyond.
Furthermore, the longer Partey is out, the longer Arsenal will be left short when it comes to meeting Premier League guidelines. Going off their official website, 21 senior players are listed and as teams in the top-flight of English football are permitted to name a 20-man matchday squad for each game it means Arteta will have to call up an academy player for as long as Partey is unavailable for selection.
This has been the case on several occasions since the January transfer window closed as the decision to let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sead Kolasinac, Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Pablo Mari and Folarin Balogun all depart in some capacity has resulted in Arteta working with a slightly smaller squad for the remainder of the season.
Zak Swanson has been been a regular on the Arsenal bench during Takehiro Tomiyasu's absence. Zach Awe, Marcelo Flores, Omari Hutchinson and Mazeed Ogungbo have all received at least one call-up, whilst for the first time since being recalled from a loan spell at Portsmouth, Miguel Azeez was named in the matchday squad against Brighton.
The midfielder was a late replacement for Ogungbo as one of nine substitutes, marking the second time he had been on the bench for a Premier League game following his call-up against Sheffield United last season. But whilst he didn't make an appearance, a first-team breakthrough could be close.
As previously reported by football.london, Azeez had been expected to play more of a role in the first-team this season. Plans changed, he joined Portsmouth ahead of transfer deadline day in the summer and made just six league appearances before returning to his parent club in January.
Having impressed for the U23s since returning and training with the senior squad regularly of late, the fact that Partey's injury setback leaves Arsenal short of natural central midfielders could work in Azeez's favour before the end of the season.
