Arsenal braces for another injury spell for Thomas Partey

According to sources close to the player, Arsenal received another setback losing midfielder Thomas Partey for "at least a few weeks," as reported by Charles Watts of Goal.com. Partey suffered an ankle injury during the 'Mind Series' against Chelsea on Aug 1. The midfielder was only able to play half an hour into the match before being forced off.

In his post-match interviews, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said, "He's going to have a scan tomorrow and at the moment it's not looking good because he was in pain and he could not continue which, for Thomas, is pretty unusual."

Partey arrived last summer from Athletico Madrid for a £45m release clause fee. While he had a rather stellar injury record at Athletico, he's struggled to stay on the pitch since joining Arsenal. After receiving the scans Monday morning, the positive news is that he will not be forced out for a long spell, like the previous hip injury that sidelined him for ten matches. The negative side of the news is the scan does indicate that Partey will miss the season opener against Brentford and possibly more matches.

Arsenal has already signed midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga from Anderlecht and has other options in the squad, including Joe Willock, Mohamed Elneny, and Lucas Torreira (though all have been rumored to move away from the club). With it being rumored that fellow midfield partner Granit Xhaka is signing a new long-term contract with Arsenal, the Gunners may assess their replacement options for Partey based on their performance against Tottenham in the upcoming preseason match.

Based on previous matches with Partey out due to injury, Arteta has tended to start the duo of Xhaka and Elneny together, but that could change after two solid performances from Lokonga.

Partey will visit another specialist later this week to assess the extent of the injury and get a clearer picture of how much time he will miss heading into the new Premier League season. Arsenal takes on Brentford to start the season on Aug 13, then get a much-needed reprieve before facing Chelsea on Aug 22 and Manchester City on Aug 28.