Arsenal's Thomas Partey set to miss north London derby vs Spurs and Man City clash as return date revealed

Thomas Partey is set to miss the north London derby against Tottenham and Arsenal's clash with Manchester City.

According to the Mail Online, Partey will be available after the October international break. The Ghanaian suffered an muscular injury in his upper leg in training last week.

Partey reportedly pulled up in training on Thursday and has since undergone a series of tests to determine the extent of the damage. Indeed, the publication has claimed the 30-year-old's injury has been pinpointed as a combination of a groin and thigh injury.

While Mikel Arteta has not publicly put a time-scale on Partey's recovery, the club's medics allegedly expect the midfielder to miss at least six weeks.

However, given the player's history of thigh problems Arsenal will take a cautious approach to his rehabilitation which could make him unavailable for even longer.

In turn, Partey is set to miss Arsenal's Premier League fixtures against Everton, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Manchester City, as well as the club's Champions League encounters against PSV Eindhoven and Lens.

The injury was sustained as Partey was adjusting to a new role in the side.

The ex-Atletico Madrid star has been deployed in an inverted right back role so far this season.

However, Arteta had reportedly considered moving Partey back into central midfield in Sunday's win over Manchester United.

News of Partey's injury emerged last week as Ghana's squad for the upcoming international break was announced with the midfielder conspicuously absent. The national team's Football Association subsequently released a statement claiming Arsenal had told them the midfielder would be sidelined "for a while” after suffering an unspecified injury in training.

Speaking after Arsenal's 3-1 victory over United, Arteta admitted to fears over how long the midfielder will be sidelined.

“It doesn’t look good,” Arteta said.

“I believe he’ll be out for weeks. I think it’s more a groin [than a hamstring problem], but it could be something in between both.”

It is the eighth injury Partey has suffered in his three years at Arsenal, but the first in 11 months.

Topics: Football, Thomas Partey, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Injury

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.