Thomas Partey breaks Arsenal injury silence with clear warning before Manchester United

Thomas Partey has sent a clear message after Arsenal's 5-2 win over West Ham, which he was absent from because of injury. Despite playing the full 90 minutes against Sporting CP, the midfielder was ruled out because of a muscular issue, with Mikel Merino also deemed unavailable because of a knee injury.

When confirming the starting XI to face the Hammers, Arsenal added: "Mikel Merino (knee issue) and Thomas Partey (muscle issue) both miss out on tonight’s fixture." Mikel Arteta then provided a further update ahead of the London derby.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "Unfortunately they both picked (up) an injury and the game came too early and they couldn't be part of the squad." Gabriel later left the clash at half time because of injury, with Arteta confirming it was a recurrence of the problem he suffered in Champions League action earlier this week.

Though Arsenal were without Merino and Partey for the full game, while Gabriel missed the second, they were still able to ride out comfortable winners over West Ham. Gabriel opened the scoring with quick-fire goals from Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz following soon after.

In the space of just two minutes, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson brought West Ham back into the game, but Bukayo Saka then scored his side's fifth all before the interval. Shockingly, no goals were scored in the second 45 minutes, with Arsenal securing all three points and also improving their goal difference.

However, the three fresh injury concerns will be a slight worry for Arteta going forward. Judging by his comments, Partey and Merino's respective issues only appear minor, while Gabriel has since provided a positive injury update ahead of Man United.

Despite not being included, Partey actually travelled with the squad across the capital and, having taken in the action from close, issued a clear message. On Instagram, he reposted Arsenal's full-time graphic, which showed Saka celebrating his goal by placing one finger to his lips, onto his story, to which he added five shushing face emojis.

Arteta will be hoping to have Partey being back available in just three days, though a recall for Merino is in doubt. The Spain international has been dealing with a number of issues in recent weeks and could therefore again be absent this coming Wednesday.

As for Gabriel, given he has seemingly not fully recovered from the issue picked up in Portugal, he could miss a Premier League game for the first time in over 12 months.