Mikel Arteta Sends Message to Thomas Partey After Ghana's Exit from AFCON

• Arteta showed little remorse for Partey after Ghana’s early exit from AFCON
• Partey will link up with his club after a wretched performance from his nation in the continental spectacle
• The Arsenal boss says Partey will now remain focused on the tasks ahead for his club

Arsenal boss Mike Arteta has fired a strong message to Thomas Partey ahead of the Ghanaian’s return to London from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Partey and his Ghanaian wads will have to report back to club duty early after falling to an early exit from the continental competition.

The 3-2 defeat to Comoros summed up what has been a wretched campaign for the Black Stars in the delayed tournament, as they only managed a solitary point from their group.

They suffered defeat to Morocco in their first group game on January 10 and that was followed up by a lowly draw against Gabon.

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With the group games done, Ghana finished bottom of their group, with Morocco and Gabon securing their tickets to the last 16 of the competition.

Partey, 28, will now return to London to focus on helping his side rebuild and fight for a place in the top four.

Speaking about his star midfielder, Arteta did not show any empathy as he said Partey needed to stay fully focused when he returned from AFCON duty.

“Well they (Ghana) played last night. It was a huge disappointment for Thomas obviously because he was representing his country and in this period he had big aims towards the competition,” Arteta said as quoted in the Arsenal website.

“He’s out now so he will be fully focused and involved in Arsenal as soon as possible,”

Arsenal face Liverpool in their next match in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi final, but it is highly unlikely Partey will feature.

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Do or die for Algeria as Eto’o dismisses pitch concerns

Meanwhile, another Premier League star, Riyad Mahrez, could face an early shower from the AFCON tournament as Algeria are staring at a possible group stage exit.

Algeria take on Ivory Coast in a must-win game for the Desert Foxes, who, through their coach, lamented on the state of the football pitch where the game will be staged.

But Cameroon’s FA President Samuel Eto’o dismissed the concerns, saying the game would go on in the designated venue as planned.