Arsenal suffer huge Thomas Partey injury blow vs Chelsea

Gabriel Injury to Rule Him Out of Arsenal vs Brentford

With Partey looking like being on the sidelines for at least a month according to some reports, this leaves a gaping hole in the middle of the pitch. Albert Lokonga could very well find himself thrust into the starting side against Brentford, which most supporters will prefer so as not to see Mohamed Elneny lining up in midfield.

This has been a problem for the last decade; when star players go out, the next in line simply do not cut it. The lack of strength is depth is alarming. This is where Arteta and Edu must get their transfer business right as they have done with the acquisition of Ben White from Brighton, shoring up the central defense.

There is a silver lining in Partey’s injury and it is two-fold. Firstly, it has happened in the pre-season. If he is to be out for four weeks or so, there are still two weeks to go until the Premier League begins, meaning potentially only two matches will be missed.

The other is we could see Albert Lokonga in action sooner rather than later. A baptism of fire for the 21-year-old surely awaits but it is exciting nonetheless. Having a younger player come in and be allowed to showcase his skills is something the Arsenal faithful will be looking forward to instead of the usual fringe players who simply are not up to it on a weekly basis. The Belgian has been impressive in every minute he’s played.

The Partey injury just has a typical Arsenal feel about it. Not missed a beat all pre-season and right before the league campaign gets underway, an injury to a key player and not just any player, the driving force for the entire team.

While there is still no official word on the injury sustained against Chelsea as the club is awaiting scan results, fans can only expect the worst. What this might do is kick Arteta’s recruitment into overdrive. The club cannot sit on its hands anymore, new players must arrive.

There is also a race against time for Gabriel to return from injury. Having missed all of pre-season due to a knee injury sustained with Brazil, he too is set to be absent on August 13.

Seeing the amount of times Arsenal were caught cold in transition against Chelsea, this is worrying.

"“We don’t know [if Gabriel will be available],” Arteta said. “He picked up an injury when he was in preparation for the Olympics with Brazil. “At the moment he’s not been able to train with us. That seems unlikely at the moment [that he will play against Brentford]. Hopefully he can recover quickly.”"

Adding Partey to the injury list while the same fringe players remain and few additions to the squad, this has an all too familiar feel about it, doesn’t it?