Thomas Partey will not be available for Arsenal‘s final Premier League match of the season against Everton, football.london understands.
As per reports in The Athletic earlier in April, the midfielder was expected to be out of action for the next few weeks after sustaining a thigh injury in the 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on April 4.
The north London outfit were reported to be assessing the injury as a scan revealed he had suffered muscle damage to his right thigh.
“We will continue to assess Thomas in the coming weeks, during which time he will also receive further specialist consultations,” read an Arsenal statement.
“Everyone will be working hard to get Thomas back on the pitch as soon as possible.”
Speaking exclusively to Football insider last month, Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site gave an update on the nature of the Ghanaian midfielder’s injury trouble:
“It’s not uncommon for players to play through the season with minor knocks and niggles, but Arsenal will want to address any underlying issues.
“These underlying issues are more likely to emerge when the body becomes more fatigued with the accumulation of games.
“This is why we see high instances of players breaking down at this stage in the season. There is the physical aspect but also psychological aspects.
“At this stage, pressure and mental stress are ramped up. That can impact the body. These are potentially things that could have impacted Partey.
“It’s all about the relationship between mind and body. There’s fatigue coming back from the Africa Cup of Nations as well, which could also be a factor.”
After travelling to the Africa Cup of Nations to play for his country Ghana, the former Atletico Madrid was given no rest upon his return after the Black Star’s elimination from the competition.
He was immediately thrust back into Mikel Arteta’s setup ultimately leading to his latest injury.
It has indeed a damaging blow for the club and for the Gunners faithful as they are expected to miss out on Champions League football, after recent defeats away to fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United disrupted their progress to finish in the top four.
Without him in the middle of the park, Arsenal have lost their driving force from deep in Arteta’s favoured 4-2-3-1 system and this has a damaging effect on the team as a whole.
According to the Guardian, the Gunners’ win ratio drops from 65.2% to 25% when Partey does not start. The number of goals they score decreases (from 1.83 to just 0.38 per 90 minutes) and the number of goals they concede rises (from 1.09 to 1.50 per game).
football.london understands that Partey had been taking part in individual training sessions each day with the best case scenario of him being in the first team squad within the “next few weeks”.
However, Partey has been deemed not ready and Arsenal’s medical staff will not risk any potential complications with his injury by including him in the final matchday squad of the season.
“The stats are there and they are unquestionable,” said Arteta. “The win rate when Thomas is there is higher. It is something that is not good for us because in the last two seasons he has not been there as much as we want.
“He has been out injured and sometimes he pushes too far in order to play and he gets injured again. He is willing to help again to play this season. We don’t know if that is going to be possible, but for sure it won’t be because of lack of intention from him.”
Arsenal will be hoping relegated Norwich City overcome Tottenham Hotspur at Carrow Road on Sunday to have any chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League, providing they beat Everton at the Emirates.
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