Posted by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has explained what he meant by “everything that he has been through” when referring to Thomas Partey.
Following Arsenal’s 3-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspurs on Saturday, Mikel Arteta expressed his excitement for Thomas Partey who scored the team’s first goal.
“We’ve been waiting for that one! The whole crowd has been, ‘shoot, shoot!’ for a long time. For everything that he has been through, and the injuries, and the effort he has put in to be available for the team, I’m so happy for him. He deserves it,” he told BT Sports.
The comments from the Spanish manager were misconstrued, with majority stipulating that his usage of “everything that he has been through” was in regards to the alleged rape allegation surrounding the Ghanaian midfielder.
Explaining what he meant with the phrase, Arteta said: “[Partey] hasn’t had the consistency over the past few months, obviously with the injuries he’s been through,” Arteta said as quoted by the Arsenal website.
“He’s been in and out and he did it – a big performance like that [against Tottenham]. He contributed to the team in an exceptional way and we are really happy with his performance.”
Arteta added: “He’s looking fine. He needs to play regularly and find consistency at that level.”
Thomas Partey has struggled with injuries since joining Arsenal from Atletico Madrid in 2020. The injuries has limited him to just 46 league starts from 80 league games, playing 90 minutes in 30 of those games.