Thomas Partey travels with Arsenal squad for Rapid Vienna game with new signing set to make Europa League debut for club

THOMAS PARTEY has traveled with the Arsenal squad for the Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna – and is now expected to make his full debut for the club.

The Gunners are on their way to Austria for Thursday night’s tournament-opener – with the club seen boarding a plane at Luton Airport.

And Partey, 27, looks set to make his eagerly-anticipated full debut in the heart of midfield after being spotted boarding the plane.

The Ghanaian came off the bench in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City to give fans a brief glimpse of his ability.

But it’s likely Mikel Arteta starts him in Vienna for their first Europa League clash of the season.

After the City defeat, Arteta explained: “We will see how quickly we can make it with [Partey].

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“I think we have to respect that process and that timing for him because he only trained for a day really.

“There’s a lot of new information and different game models for him to understand, and we have to respect that.

“But I think when he came on he looked good.”

Elsewhere, Eddie Nketiah, Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolinasic were also spotted boarding the Vienna-bound jet.

But one player who wasn’t present – and won’t be for the rest of the season – was Mesut Ozil.

The German playmaker was axed from both the Europa League and Premier League squads.

And he lashed out with an emotional statement, suggesting the Gunners have shown a ‘lack of loyalty’.

The former Real Madrid man said: “Upon signing my contract in 2018, I pledged my loyalty and allegiance to the club that I love, Arsenal, and it saddens me that this has not been reciprocated.

“As I have just found out, loyalty is hard to come by nowadays.”