Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says Thomas Partey has two training sessions to prove he is ready to feature for the Gunners in their Premier League match against Manchester City on Saturday.
The midfielder arrived from Atletico Madrid on transfer deadline to bolster Arteta’s squad as he looks to challenge for trophies.
Arsenal will look to continue their good form against City and establish themselves as top four or even title contenders.
Partey – who signed for £45million on deadline day – will meet his team-mates for the first time on Thursday.
And Arteta has underlined it will be an important couple of training sessions for the midfielder if he wants to feature for Arsenal this weekend.
“He was here just yesterday (Wednesday), getting familiar with everything around the club. Today he will have his first training session,” Arteta said.
“Everything has to come really quickly for him.
“We knew that before we signed him. But he’s fit, he’s very willing to start playing. We will see how he goes in the next few days.”
Arteta also opened up on leaving Mesut Ozil out of his Premier League squad, signalling the end at the club for the World Cup winner.
He explained: “He wasn’t the only one that is not in the squad.
“It was a really difficult decision for me to make because to leave players out of the squad at that level where they know that they cannot get involved is really tough.
“I don’t like it at all but the decision has to be made because we have an excess on foreign players and unfortunately we have to make that decision.”
City have had an inconsistent start to the season but Arteta is taking nothing for granted against Pep Guardiola.
He explained: “They still produce incredible numbers in everything they do.
“In my opinion they’ve been really unlucky with some of the results they’ve got. They should have put games to bed very early.
“:The level of efficiency of the opponents when they had chances or half chances have punished them a lot.
“I haven’t seen many decreases in the level of their playing or what they are producing game by game. I haven’t seen any of that.”
Arsenal’s match against City takes place at 5.30pm on Saturday evening with the Premier League returning after the international break.
