The Gunners boss is hoping the defensive-minded summer signing can be up and running for the forthcoming north London derby.
Thomas Partey hadn’t even fully assimilated himself in the Arsenal line-up following a €50 million summer switch from Atletico Madrid when he suffered an inopportune injury.
The 27-year-old was forced off at half-time with an injury in his fourth start in the Premier League in the 3-0 loss to Aston Villa last month.
He has since missed two of each of the Gunners’ Premier League and Europa League outings, with his thigh problem turning out to be worse than what was initially suspected.
A north London derby now awaits and the defensive midfielder’s presence in the team will be of great help to hold down a high-flying Tottenham side.
“He’s putting a lot of pressure on us,” Mikel Arteta said when asked about Partey’s condition after Thursday’s 4-1 win against Rapid Wien, as per Goal.
“He’s training tomorrow with us and let’s see how it goes in the next couple of days.
“We’ve seen that a lot of players playing on a Thursday who have strong performances in Europa who then play on Saturday as well. So yes, I will be thinking about this performance [when picking the team].”
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