Ghana name injured Arsenal star Thomas Partey in squad ahead of upcoming friendlies

Ghana have named injured Arsenal star Thomas Partey in their squad for upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Nicaragua.

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Partey has missed Arsenal’s last three games and has not been present in a matchday squad for the Gunners since the 3-0 win at Bournemouth last month.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta provided an update on Partey following the club’s 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday, saying ‘he will be [ruled] out for a while’.

‘[Partey is] going to be out for a while but we don’t know how long that period is going to be,’ Arteta said.

‘Obviously, it’s not the first injury that he’s had in that area so it is a recurring injury, so it’s one for the doctors to put a timeline on it and see how he goes.’

However, the 29-year-old midfielder is set to return to his national side as the Black Starts prepare to face Brazil on September 23 and Nicaragua on September 27.

Partey is a key player for Ghana, knocking up 40 caps since his first call-up in 2016 and was crowned the country’s Player of the Year for 2018 and 2019.

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In 2018, he was also named the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) Sports Personality of the Year and earned a place in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Team of the Year.

Partey has played a total of 62 games for Arsenal since he joined the club from Atletico Madrid for £45m in 2020.

He enjoyed a lot of success with Atletico, winning La Liga, the Europa League and Super Cup and he was also a Champions League runner up.

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