Thomas Partey is likely to miss Arsenal's opening games of the Premier League season after suffering an ankle injury, football.london understands.
The Ghana international was on the receiving end of a strong challenge by Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek during the first half of Sunday's Mind Series pre-season friendly.
Partey was forced off in the 39th minute as he received treatment on his ankle, with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta revealing after the match that he feared the worst after seeing the former Atletico Madrid man hobble off.
“I just had a talk with the doc," said Arteta after the game.
"He’ll have a scan tomorrow. At the moment it’s not looking good.”
football.london has learned that Partey is expected to miss Arsenal's opening games of the season against Brentford and Chelsea, although there is optimism that he could return sooner than expected if his recovery goes to plan.
Arsenal have the likes of Granit Xhaka, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Joe Willock and Mohamed Elneny available for the Premier League opener against Brentford, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles is another player who has featured there in central midfield during pre-season.
Meanwhile, Xhaka looks set to stay at Arsenal with the Gunners keen on extending his contract after a summer departure fell through.
Xhaka's five-year stay almost came an end last month as a move to Serie A side AS Roma was at an advanced stage.
As reported by football.london, Xhaka had already agreed personal terms with Roma and the Swiss international has his heart set on linking up with former Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
But Roma's reluctance to increase their offer for Xhaka means the Swiss international is likely to be staying put.
Following Sunday's game against Chelsea he posted a seven-word message on social media in which he called the Emirates Stadium his 'home'.
