Arsenal monitoring Partey, could return to training this week

Thomas Partey could return to full group training in the coming days if medical assessments show he’s making enough progress in his recovery from a thigh problem that has sidelined him for over a month.

The Ghana international hasn’t kicked a ball for club or country since being substituted at half time of the 1-0 defeat to Leicester in late October. The problem wasn’t thought to be that serious when it was initially diagnosed but with each passing week, fears of a serious problem have increased. Indeed, just this week speculation mounted that he could miss much of the Christmas period.

Thankfully, it sounds like those rumours are untrue, however, the club is being cautious about throwing the summer signing in the deep end again for fear of causing further damage.

Ahead of Thursday’s clash with Rapid Vienna, Arteta touched on whether Partey could be available for Sunday’s North London derby.

“He’s been training separately in the last week or so and we have to scan him again to see how he’s feeling,” the boss told his pre-game press conference. 

“He’s a player that is so willing, that is pushing us every day and he wants to do it. At the same time, we have to protect him and make sure that when he gets back in the team, he is ready to do that and to whatever extent of minutes we can use him, so it’s going to be crucial with the moment he starts to train with the team to see how he is feeling and how he is evolving day-to-day.

“We don’t know [if he’ll be available for the North London derby], he is really pushing every day and he’s trying to get around the doctor and the physios but he hasn’t trained with the team yet so let’s see this week if he can get a session or two and then assess him, we need to scan him again so we can see the extent of the injury and how it’s healed.

“I know if it’s up to Thomas then he wants to play tomorrow. We have to see medically that he is safe to participate at all.”