Partey has played just 41 minutes since August after a spate of muscle injuries. He made his long-awaited return to action against Sheffield United earlier this month, before being used as a late substitute in the 2-1 win against Brentford, and being part of the matchday squad in the Champions League victory over Porto on penalties.
After missing nearly four months of football, Arsenal have understandably been keen to manage his return to action carefully. This is particularly the case given that Partey suffered a setback on his road to recovery after initially returning to training in January.
“He’s been out for many, many months now,” Mikel Arteta said in the build up to the Gunners’ 4-1 win over Newcastle last month. “We need to really nail the timing of when he has enough in the tank to compete.”
As he continues to return to full fitness the Ghanaian national team had initially taken the decision not to include him on the long-list for their upcoming friendlies against Nigeria and Uganda. As a result Partey had not been preparing to go off on international duty.
It was something of surprise therefore when he received a call up at the 11th hour to be part of Otto Addo’s first squad list since returning as Ghana manager this month. With plans already in place for him to stay in north London by this point, he ultimately decided to remain at the Sobha Realty Centre. He will now train there with the rest of his teammates who have not been called up to international duty over the next couple of weeks.
Ben White and Jurrien Timber are among those who will also be staying in north London over the next couple of weeks. Partey is now preparing to be involved when Arsenal take on Manchester City in top of the table clash at the Etihad Stadium at the end of this month.