Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has disclosed that Black Stars midfielder Thomas Partey wished to play for the national team in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
Head coach of the Black Stars, Chris Hughton, named Partey in Ghana’s 55-man provisional squad for the AFCON but missed out of the final squad due to injury.
However, during Arteta’s pre-match press conference on Friday, he revealed that the 30-year-old expressed desire to represent the Black Stars at AFCON but could not recover on time.
“It was about common sense. He had a long term injury. He really wanted to be with his national team but he’s still far from training for the team and it didn’t make sense for him to be involved,” he explained.
Asked when Partey was going to return from injury, he said “Hopefully it’s weeks. That will be determined by how the next step in terms of bringing him back into training goes.”
The prolific midfielders absence to the AFCON will be a major blow to the Black Stars, as they seek to end their 42-year wait without winning the tournament.