Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has officially revealed his squad ahead of the pre-season games in the United States of America and midfielder Thomas Partey is among the players after reports had it that he won’t be included due to an undisclosed reason.
This is coming days after he was linked with a rape scandal involving an unnamed Premier League player and two women. Though his name has not been officially mentioned in the case, it is widely believed that the alleged rapist is Thomas Partey.
Also read: Thomas Partey was allegedly accused of Rape by girlfriend Sara Bella after he refused to Marry her
Due to the scandal, the midfielder who’s currently the highest-paid player in the squad with a £200,000-a-week salary was not with the team during last Friday’s 5-3 win over Nurnberg in Germany.
Interestingly, Thomas Partey has now been included in the official pre-season list and will leave London for the United States this week to link up with his teammates.
The North London club will play three friendly games in the United States of America. Mikel Arteta and his boys will face Everton in Baltimore on Sunday before playing two more games in Orlando against Orlando City on July 21 and then against their neighbors Chelsea on July 23.
New summer signings Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, and Marquinhos are all included in the squad for the USA 10-days.
Here is the full squad:
Goalkeepers: Aaron Ramsdale, Bernd Leno, Matt Turner, Arthur Okonkwo, Alex Runarsson
Defenders: Kieran Tierney, Nuno Tavares, Gabriel, Pablo Mari, Ben White, Rob Holding, William Saliba, Hector Bellerin, Cedric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Reuell Walters
Midfielders: Mohamed Elneny, Lucas Torreira, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson
Forwards: Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Jesus, Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka, Folarin Balogun, Marquinhos
Good news Thomas Partey has arrived at Arsenal training grounds
— Saddick Adams (@SaddickAdams) July 11, 2022
via @precbrown95 pic.twitter.com/C1i9tIrK78
This will be Arsenal’s first extended summer tour since 2019 after the last two proposals to play in the United States were rejected because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The three pre-season games will also include daily training sessions as they prepare for the 2022-23 season. They will also create time to meet their supporters in the United States and interact with them.
So far, the team has already played two friendly games against Ipswich Town and Nurnberg which ended 5-1 and 5-3 respectively in favor of the Gunners. The team’s performance so far has been encouraging and their supporters believe that they can challenge for trophies next season.
Mikel Arteta has done a great job in strengthen his team and could add some more talents before the current summer transfer window closes. New signing from Manchester City, Gabriel Jesus had a top performance during his unofficial debut in the 5-3 win over Nurnberg. The Brazilian scored a brace and also assisted one goal.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have missed out in the attempt to sign Leeds United winger Raphinha this summer after the Brazilian accepted to join Barcelona. The Gunners may decide to sign another winger or work with the players they have already.
