Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that he had plans to make Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey an unpredictably player for the Gunners before he suffered an injury.

The 30-year-old hasn't played a league game for the Gunners since October and was ruled out of the African Cup of Nations with Ghana due to his continued problems.

Partey started the season playing as an inverted full back for Arsenal before his injury.

Asked on how long Partey will be out for, Arteta said: “Hopefully it’s weeks. How many weeks it will be will depend a little bit on how long the next step of training with the team will take him, but he’s progressing well.”

“It was a huge blow as well losing Thomas [Partey]. We had other plans as well with him, to become very versatile and unpredictable in our way of playing.

“We have not had them and that is difficult. We have them in the building, which is a joy. But we have not had them on the field as much as we wanted.”

This season, Thomas Partey has featured in just five games for Arsenal.