Mikel Arteta has provided new updates on Thomas Partey, Gabriel Martinelli, and Gabriel Magalhaes, ahead of Thursday’s clash with Crystal Palace.
Thomas Partey looks like the most likely of the three players to make an appearance on Thursday. Arteta says he’s been in full training without any problems, it was just a bit soon to play him against Newcastle United at the weekend.
“Thomas has been in full training for the last four or five days, he’s completely asymptomatic,” Arteta confirmed. “It would be a little bit rushed to try and play him against Newcastle but I think he will be ready for Thursday.”
That’s certainly good news, as Partey has had some strong performances in his very limited appearances for the club so far. Having him back is a boost, particularly as the team’s form is picking up.
As for Gabriel Magalhaes, it looks like a close thing as to whether he’s available for the Crystal Palace clash or not. He’s only just rejoining training this week, so it’s hard to say if he’ll be ready.
“Gabriel had a training session the other day,” Arteta continued. “He tested positive and had very mild symptoms, so he’s missed a few weeks of training because he had to be isolated.
“It’s better now and we expect him to be training with us in the next couple of days and then make an assessment on whether we can have him or not on Thursday.”
Finally, with Gabriel Martinelli, there doesn’t seem to be any chance of an appearance on Thursday. At this stage, the club aren’t sure exactly how bad his injury is, waiting on the results of a scan to assess it properly.
“We don’t know how bad he is,” Arteta admitted. “He’s getting a scan this morning. We didn’t look after the game because he was in a lot of pain but yesterday he tested it a little bit better, so let’s hope.
“We have a scan today so let’s hope it’s not as serious and we can have Gabi back really soon. We will know more tomorrow, certainly.”