Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted he is not hopeful that Thomas Partey will be fit enough to play again for the Gunners this season after sustaining a thigh injury earlier this month.
The Ghanaian international has enjoyed his best form in an Arsenal shirt since the turn of the calendar year, but will have to wait until next campaign to build on it by the looks of things. The knock was picked up during the 3-0 defeat by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
He was forced to sit out the subsequent game at home to Brighton & Hove Albion and Partey's absence was sorely felt by a Gunners side who were forced to deploy youngster Albert Sambi Lokonga in his place. While Lokonga clearly has talent, he is some way from being able to replicate the kind of impact an in-form Partey has on this Arsenal side.
Pressed on whether the former Atletico Madrid man would return anytime soon, Arteta issued the kind of update the Arsenal faithful would have been dreading. "The news that we got after another assessment is not looking very positive for his availability this season", the Spaniard explained. "At the moment we’re not very optimistic."
Partey's injury has come at the worst possible time for Arsenal considering they are desperately trying to secure Champions league qualification for next season. The Gunners were long viewed as favourites for fourth before their last two defeats have seemingly derailed their season.
Kieran Tierney is also sidelined for the remainder of the campaign, meaning Arteta has another selection headache. He could deploy deputy full-back Nuno Tavares, but the Arsenal boss appears to have lost faith in his first signing of last summer already.
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Arteta decided to play central midfielder Granit Xhaka in the left-back role for the visit of the Seagulls and has since justified selecting the Switzerland international over Tavares.
"When I put a player on the pitch I see he’s in the right position to do that. When I see that he’s doubting I don’t give him any favours in doing that. Look at the stats when Granit plays at left back. You don’t get much better than that," he added.
The Gunners boss also gave a rather cryptic response to questions surrounding the fitness of struggling striker Alexandre Lacazette. The Frenchman has not been seen in training over the last two days, but Arteta kept his cards close to his chest as to why: "There are private reasons that I can’t comment on but I have no other team news apart from the guys we discussed."
