Ex-Arsenal player Thomas Partey pleads not guilty to two new rape allegations

• Midfielder faces seven charges of rape in total

• Judge says trial may be delayed until early next year

The former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has pleaded not guilty to two new allegations of rape.

The 32-year-old appeared at Southwark crown court on Monday to deny raping a woman twice in London on a single day in December 2020. Partey, who left Arsenal for Villarreal last summer, was charged in July last year with five counts of rape and one allegation of sexual assault, dating back to 2021 and 2022. He previously pleaded not guilty to those charges and a trial was set for November this year.