The Gunners will be without Ghanian midfielder Thomas Partey and striker Eddie Nketiah for the opening few weeks of the 2021/22 season
Partey suffered ankle ligament damage in the 2-1 friendly defeat to Chelsea last week. The Ghanian is not expected to return for at least two weeks with this type of injury.
2020 was a tough opening season for Partey as he failed to light up the Emirates Stadium in a year where Arsenal finished ninth. This injury already puts his second season off to a similarly poor start.
Also in the Chelsea match, young English forward Nketiah sustained bruising to his right ankle. He is to be sidelined for at minimum a month before his leg has recovered.
This means that both players will miss the opening Premier League match against Brentford on Friday. Later this month they will also miss very important ties with Chelsea and later Manchester City. The pair will also be out of contention for the EFL Cup second-round match against the newly relegated West Bromich Albion.
The club is still unsure on center-back Gabriel’s return date after he injured his knee representing Brazil at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Gabriel Magalhães on Instagram story, with team-mate Gabriel Martinelli’s Olympic gold medal at London Colney: “Thanks for letting me smell her brother hahahahaha 🥇🇧🇷” [IG: _gabrielmagalhaes] #afc pic.twitter.com/XlQeqEKoP4
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 9, 2021
With Arsenal’s team seemingly depleted for their opening game on Friday, manager Mikel Arteta has made it clear that Arsenal still has plenty of business to do in the transfer window.
The club has already spent in the region of €75 million on three players: Ben White from Brighton, Albert Sambi Lokongo from Anderlecht, and Nuno Tavares from Benfica.
The club is also linked with a swap deal of Lautero Martinez from Inter Milan for aging striker Alexander Lacazette.
Speaking about their transfer business in a recent press conference, Arteta said:
“There is still a window to go, I’m sure things will happen in a way. I’m willing to work with the players I have at the moment and get the best out of them. We will see what we can do.
“We have ownership that are willing to invest in the team and they want to get the team better with bigger aims. But at the same time, we need to be careful because we want to be in a financial position that is sustainable for the club.”
Arsenal start their season away to newly-promoted Brentford at 20:00 on Friday, 13th August.
Thomas Partey models Arsenal’s third away kit for the 2021/22 season. #afc pic.twitter.com/sd2oPU2XmA
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 10, 2021
