Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Thomas Partey and Gabriel Jesus will be out for a few weeks at least
Mikel Arteta has announced that Thomas Partey will be absent for at least a few weeks after suffering a muscular injury during Monday’s pre-Sevilla training.
The Ghanaian international was purposefully not utilized from the start against Chelsea in order to play him in the Champions League, but the manager discovered the issue with the ‘final kick’ of the training session, keeping him out of that game.
“He’s got a muscle injury and we expect him to be out for a few weeks,” Arteta revealed today at his pre-Sheffield United press conference.
“We don’t know the full extent of it, and he has more tests today.” But he got injured in training, the penultimate session, the last kick of the ball before Seville. So, absolutely, it’s a shame.”
When asked if it was a return of the issue that kept him out before the international break, and if the games he played for Ghana played a role, Arteta replied, “No, it’s something different.”
“And I don’t think so; he was returning from a layoff and needed minutes, and he played for the national team.”
“We tried to stay in touch with them at all times, and then we had two very close games with Chelsea and Seville, and we decided not to load him in the first game to play him in Seville, and then that happened in training.”
“So it’s difficult – you try to avoid it, but his injury against Chelsea would have made you think we rushed him.” Then you rest him, and he gets hurt. Things like this can happen in football.”
The manager also provided an update on Gabriel Jesus, who was forced to come off during the 2-1 win in Spain, and while he claimed it appeared to be the type of injury that may keep him out for a while, he was hesitant to set a time frame on his potential return.
“Yeah, again, the scan showed that there is a muscle injury and we might lose him for a few weeks again,” he added.
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Thomas Partey and Gabriel Jesus will be out for a few weeks at least.
“I can’t give you a timetable for Gabi because he always surprises us.” However, there is something there.
“He felt it in a really awkward action and it’s true that he has had quite a lot of load in the last few weeks – with the national team and then playing those games which he hasn’t done in a long, long time.
“That’s really bad news for us.”
