Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Thomas Partey will not be available for Sunday's crunch Premier League clash with Liverpool due to a setback in his recovery from injury.
The 30-year-old's last appearance for the Gunners came all the way back on October 8 against Manchester City, as he returned to his regular bed in the treatment room with a hamstring problem sustained in training.
Partey - who has played just five times for Arteta's this season - was immediately ruled out for the remainder of the calendar year after undergoing surgery, although there was initially optimism that he would be firing on all cylinders again in January,
A winter comeback did not materialise for the former Atletico Madrid man, though, and he was also left out of Ghana's Africa Cup of Nations squad, with then-manager Chris Hughton claiming that the injury was the most significant of his career so far.
After three months of rehabilitation, Partey was pictured in full training with the Gunners ahead of their 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, although he was not passed fit for the clash at the City Ground.
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When asked whether Partey would be available for the visit of Liverpool in Friday's press conference, Arteta delivered the disappointing news that the midfielder had suffered from recent complications and is not sure how long his new setback will sideline him for.
"With Thomas unfortunately we had a little setback a few days ago. He's not going to be available in the squad. We'll see if it's a matter of days of weeks. But he had a little thing," football.london quotes Arteta as saying.
Pressed on the nature of Partey's fresh blow, Arteta was loath to delve into too much detail, adding: "I'm not a doctor, but he felt something in a very similar area and he wasn't able to train the last few days."
Partey - whose Arsenal career has been blighted by fitness problems ever since his 2020 move from Atletico - will be one of four guaranteed absentees for Arsenal this weekend, as Takehiro Tomiyasu (international), Jurrien Timber (ACL) and Fabio Vieira (groin) are also unavailable.
However, Arteta has confirmed that Gabriel Jesus trained normally all week following a scare with his knee, while Mohamed Elneny may also make his domestic comeback after Egypt's Africa Cup of Nations elimination.
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The Spaniard was also quizzed on the incident which saw Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko exchange words at the end of Tuesday's win over Forest, a quarrel which he insisted he "loved" at the time, and he doubled down on his stance with a humorous answer on Friday.
"Yeah... They've been in the same house the past few days sharing wives and everything! It's fine they're living together now. They're best mates," Arteta said.
"You don't argue with someone if you don't have a great relationship. That happens because you have the trust and chemistry with somebody to react the way they did. As long as it's in a respectful way and with the intention to be more demanding as a team and it stays there, I'm very happy with that."
Arsenal sit two places and five points below leaders Liverpool in the Premier League table heading into Sunday's mouthwatering Emirates encounter, which comes just a few weeks after the Reds emerged triumphant 2-0 in the third round of the FA Cup.
Jurgen Klopp's side have been handed a worrying fitness concern of their own ahead of the trip south, though, as Darwin Nunez sustained a foot injury during Wednesday's 4-1 win over Chelsea.
Ben Knapton
