
Mikel Arteta says Arsenal ‘100 per cent' followed right processes with Thomas Partey over midfielder's rape charge
Partey was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by the Metropolitan Police Service on July 4 – four days after his Gunners contract expired.
2
2
The offences relate to three women and are alleged to have taken place between 2021 and 2022 – with the 32-year-old appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on August 5.
Partey – who denies all the charges – was first arrested in July 2022 but not named while continuing to play for the club as investigations were ongoing.
A statement from Partey's lawyer said: 'Thomas Partey denies all the charges against him.
"He has fully cooperated with the police and CPS throughout their three-year investigation. He now welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name.'
And an Arsenal statement read: 'The player's contract ended on 30 June. Due to ongoing legal proceedings the club is unable to comment on the case.'
The timing of the charges – less than a week after his contract at Arsenal expired – has been the subject of intense discussion and scrutiny.
Questions have been raised as to why the club did not suspend Partey, as well as reports that the club were in talks with the midfielder over a new contract in the weeks leading up to his charges.
And speaking for the first time since Partey was charged, during a press conference on their pre-season tour of Singapore, Arteta said: 'The club was very clear in its statement.
"There are a lot of legal matters that are very complicated so I cannot comment on any of that.'
Pressed on if he felt confident and comfortable that the club followed all the right processes, Arteta added: '100 per cent.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mirror
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Arsenal sent clear Viktor Gyokeres transfer warning ahead of imminent arrival
Arsenal are expecting to announce the signing of Viktor Gyokeres in the coming days after finally agreeing a deal with Sporting Lisbon worth around £63m - with a medical set for the weekend Arsenal legend Sol Campbell has warned that Viktor Gyokeres might not be enough to help the Gunners win the Premier League title and believes they might need two top strikers to battle Liverpool. Gyokeres is on the verge of finally sealing his long-awaited move to the Emirates after talks with Sporting Lisbon dragged on for much of the summer. Arsenal have agreed to pay the Portuguese club around £54.8million, plus £8.7m in add-ons and the Sweden international is expected to undergo a medical this weekend ahead of joining his team-mates on their pre-season tour of Singapore. The Gunners will be hopeful Gyokeres can fire the team to silverware after five years without a trophy, having been blown away by Liverpool last season without a recognised No 9 up front for much of the campaign. But Campbell - who won two Premier League titles at Arsenal and three FA Cups - has insisted that two strikers are necessary in case Gyokeres becomes injured. Last season, Liverpool won the title with Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, while Mohamed Salah scored the bulk of the goals from the wing. "You need two strikers to trouble other teams," he told the Sun via BetSelect. "You can't always rely on just one striker as if he gets injured, the team's performance drops. So it's important to have a main one and have another really good backup. Sometimes they can play together, sometimes one's on the bench and the other comes on. "It can be good to get a slightly older one who's been there, seen it, and done it, and can come on when you need something to happen for 20 minutes, but they're top, top quality. "If you pick the second striker properly, they can come on to make a difference. That's something you have to do. So if they do get two strikers, they could definitely become champions. "That's the type of player who has been missing, somebody who has scored 20-25 goals just in the league. It's okay to say, 'he's got all of these goals in all of these competitions,' but that's not good enough; that's not going to win you the Premier League. You need goals to get you over the line and make up point differences." Gyokeres scored 54 goals in 52 games for Sporting Lisbon last season and is seen as one of the best strikers in world football right now. He is set to become the club's sixth signing of the window after Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Noni Madueke, Christian Norgaard and Cristhian Mosquera. Arsenal, who have handed Gyokeres the iconic number 14 shirt once worn by Thierry Henry, are hoping to fly the player out to Asia soon as they prepare for games against Newcastle and Tottenham.


Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Arsenal reach total agreement to sign Viktor Gyokeres with new squad No confirme
Gyokeres is a bunch of different strikers blended into one. He's a bulldozer, but he's also got that turn of pace and knack of finding himself in shooting areas. Some strikers, you can see they overthink things, but he'll shoot first and ask questions later. At 6ft 2in, he could definitely add an aerial presence to his game to take himself to the next level, but he's very good at using his chest as a magnet to win these aerial duels. He may not be as fearless as others when it comes to aerial duels, but he knows how to use his strengths to his advantage to hold up the ball and bring others into play. He's not someone like Roberto Firmino who is going to be dropping deep, so if Arsenal need to change certain things to get the best out of Gyokeres then they should. Zach Lowy, European football expert


Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Viktor Gyokeres to wear iconic Arsenal shirt number number as Gunners agree £63.5million transfer for Sporting striker
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ARSENAL have completed the signing of Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon - and he has taken Thierry Henry's iconic shirt number. The Emirates faithful have been crying out for manager Mikel Arteta to sign a new striker for well over a year. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Arsenal agreed the signing of Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon Credit: GETTY And the Spaniard has finally delivered with the £63.5million signing of highly-coveted Sweden international Gyokeres. Gyokeres, 27, will ink a five-year contract at the Emirates with a medical expected over the weekend. Arsenal will pay Portuguese giants Sporting, who were reluctant to let their talismanic striker leave, £54.8m up front. SunSport understands the deal's expected add-ons, which include a goal and Premier League title bonus, are in the region of £8.7m. Gyokeres will wear the No14 made so famous by Gunners great Henry - inheriting it from Eddie Nketiah. The deal was briefly in doubt after Sporting refused to honour what Gyokeres believed to be a gentleman's agreement allowing him to leave the Portuguese capital for £60m. The Swede was irate at the blocking of his exit and vowed not to play or train for the club ever again. Further talks were held between Arsenal and the Sporting brass this past weekend in the hopes of keeping the deal alive. SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET £50 BONUS WHEN YOU JOIN 2 And they resulted in the north Londoners going over the Portuguese club's £60m valuation of their star man. Gyokeres has forgone a whopping £1.7m in wages to seal a move to the Emirates. Who is Sporting's masked man Viktor Gyokeres The former Coventry has snubbed a reunion with former manager Ruben Amorim at Manchester United to seal a much-desired move to the Emirates. SunSport understands he had his heart set on joining the Gunners from the moment the transfer window opened. Gyokeres has joined the Gunners in time to go on the club's pre-season trip to Hong Kong and Singapore this weekend. The Swede's arrival at the Emirates has given Arteta's squad a massive boost in firepower. Gyokeres scored a whopping 52 goals and provided 13 assists in 54 appearances for the Portuguese giants last season.