'I made it clear' - International boss opens up on surprise decision to drop Arsenal star

Arsenal star Thomas Partey has missed out on international duty, with Ghana manager Otto Addo revealing that he has dropped the midfielder for private reasons. Partey has been plenty involved with Arsenal this season, playing both the right-back and holding midfield roles and proving to be a very useful utility for Mikel Arteta.

With 51 caps already under his belt, Partey was expected to get the call-up for Ghana’s upcoming games with Angola and Niger, especially given he is usually his nation’s captain, but Ghana boss Addo appears to have seen something he does not like, dropping Partey.

Asked about the decision, he told reporters: “I had a confidential talk with Thomas. I am a coach who always likes to protect the players, so I hope for your understanding. For me, the team is like family, I am not coming out with internal issues - but I made it quite clear to him.

“He wanted to come, he wanted to come, but I made it quite clear why he is not coming. Like I said, it’s confidential. It is difficult for me to mention all the things. It’s like that. We have to move on. Now, as you know, Thomas is not coming and it’s not a permanent thing, so we are always open for him to return. I hope that the things we talked that he will do better in that and that he will join the team maybe in the next window in March. I think he had a good perspective. We had a good talk and we are on good terms.”

It’s a strange situation and one that lacks clarity, but Ghana are in need of some bold decisions given they look set to miss out on African Cup of Nations qualification, currently five points behind Sudan with just two games to play.

In Partey’s absence, Jordan Ayew will wear the captain’s armband despite strong consideration being given to West Ham star Mohammed Kudus. “The initiative was to make Thomas captain of the team and for him to guide the team, to lead the team,” Addo added.

“Once he is not there now, shortly after I talked to Thomas, I had to talk to Kudus. For him, he is still young, he needs to grow into that role. The last time he was captain when he was assisting Thomas and last time I took the decision to make Kudus captain. Now, as we know Thomas is not there for the next two games, we made the decision to - or at the end I decided to take a new captain for the team - which will be Jordan. I talked to Kudus for him to understand that for me he is still needs to learn and grow into that role. And I want him still to be second captain alongside [Alexander] Djiku, but Jordan will takeover now and he will lead and guide the team.”