Former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault at Southwark Crown Court.

The 32-year-old is accused of raping two women, as well as sexually assaulting a third woman.

The alleged offences took place between 2021 and 2022, when he was an Arsenal player.

Partey spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and his not guilty pleas during a 14-minute hearing on Wednesday.

The Ghanaian midfielder, who now plays for Spanish club Villarreal, faces trial under a High Court judge at the same court on November 2 next year.

Partey was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing before his contract expired at the end of June.

Days later, he was charged on July 4.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said in July he was “100 per cent” sure the club had followed all the correct processes around the arrest and investigation.

Partey’s latest court appearance comes the day after he came on as a substitute in Villarreal’s Champions League fixture against Tottenham Hotspur in London.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Christopher Hehir told Partey: “Your trial will take place at this court on November 2 of next year, 2026.

“I appreciate that it is quite a long way in advance. As you may appreciate, the crown courts have a huge backlog of work, which means that trials do take a long time to come on.

“Because you have bail, effectively you are sitting behind a queue of people in prison who are waiting to be tried.”

The judge granted bail on the same conditions as Partey was placed under at a previous hearing – that he cannot contact any of the three women and must notify police of any permanent changes of address or international travel.