Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta gives worrying Thomas Partey injury update

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says Thomas Partey will have an MRI scan on a rib injury this weekend. The midfielder was forced off with the issue at half-time of the FA Cup fourth-round loss to Manchester City.

Partey started the match at the Etihad but appeared to suffer the problem early on. He did not come out for the second half and was replaced by Albert Sambi Lokonga.

In his post-match press conference, Arteta said he didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks over Partey. He said: “He felt something and we didn’t want to take any risks so he couldn’t continue.”

However, the Spaniard then confirmed Partey will have a MRI scan to discover the extent of the issue. Arteta and Arsenal fans will be sweating over the results of the scan.

Partey has been hugely influential in the Gunners’ form this season. Arsenal’s only loss in the Premier League came when the Ghana star was missing through injury.

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Arsenal are in the market for a midfielder before the end of the January transfer window. Mohamed Elneny is currently out with a knee injury and could miss the majority of the rest of the season.

Brighton star Moises Caicedo has emerged as a top target for the Premier League leaders. The Seagulls rejected an offer worth £60million for the Ecuador international on Friday.

Meanwhile, Arteta was not impressed with his side’s defending for City’s winner. Nathan Ake scored the only goal of the game 20 minutes into the second half.

After a Julian Alvarez shot came back off the post, Jack Grealish remained composed before setting up Ake to calmly place past Arsenal’s No 2 goalkeeper Matt Turner. Arteta told ITV: “We are disappointed.

“I think we could have got much more from the game but an action decided the game. It was a really tight match, really competitive game and an action decided the game and unfortunately we’re out.

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“I think we could have defended that much better. In the discipline we need in the box to stay with our runners.”

Arteta says there are positives to take despite exiting the competition at the second time of asking. He added: “In the second half when we had a lot of control in the game and we had big situations there that we didn’t put away.

“In those games, you need to do that. We can take a lot of positives. The way we approached the game and the way we competed in the game was really good, because it’s really tough to do that against this incredible team. We played face to face against them.

“In the big moments in the big matches, we have to make the difference and that’s how you win against these teams.”

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