MY ACCOUNT
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has detailed the club’s injury issues, with Thomas Partey out for “weeks” and Mohamed Elneny set to be absent for “months”.
The Gunners have enjoyed a perfect start to the Premier League campaign with five wins from five but face a stern test at Old Trafford on Sunday against Manchester United, who have bounced back from a slow start to register three consecutive wins.
Midfield injuries have become an issue for Arteta, though, forced to make changes in back-to-back matches in the middle of the park with Albert Sambi Lokonga deputising as Granit Xhaka’s partner in midweek.
Arsenal have further problems, too, with Oleksandr Zinchenko missing the last two games and yet to train with the team, while Aaron Ramsdale and Martin Odegaard will be assessed on Saturday.
“Ramsdale and Odegaard have been assessed and we will see more tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll be available to train with the team,” Arteta said in Friday’s press conference.
“Alex [Zinchenko] missed two games and has not been able to train with team yet. For Mo [Elneny], we are talking months.
“With Thomas [Partey], we are hopefully talking weeks and even shorter than that. We have tried to manage him. A lot has happened since he’s joined.
“We are trying the possible way to find reasons for that. Unfortunately, his body and mind are too difficult to try to put finger on to identify one factor. Attitude is there. He’s really disappointed and wants to get back.”
Arsenal attempted to make a late move to sign Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa but were unable to thrash out a deadline day deal, with Arteta admitting he may look towards the academy for players to make the jump.
“We had to react. We tried, but we have to bring in the right player for the team and for the club but didn’t manage to do that,” he added.
“It’s the team we have. For me, it’s the best squad and team I have available. There is nothing else we can do. We have an academy as well that we have to use, and we will try to do that the best possible way.”
