Arsenal Boss Confirms Double Fitness Boost + Offers Cazorla Injury Update

Arsene Wenger confirmed a double fitness boost to Arsenal.com following our 2-0 defeat to Southampton on Wednesday night while he also gave an update on Santi Cazorla.

Mohamed Elneny was forced off during the first half at the Emirates last night and headed straight down the tunnel prompting fears the Egyptian international had picked up a potentially serious injury problem.

However, Wenger has revealed that Elneny was feeling unwell before the match last night and although the player declared himself fit to start, the midfielder was clearly feeling the effects of his stomach bug and had to be substituted.

Olivier Giroud missed the League Cup defeat after sustaining a groin injury during his late cameo appearance against Bournemouth last weekend but thankfully the boss has confirmed the injury isn’t serious and the Frenchman could be available to face West Ham on Saturday.

However, we’re still no closer to finding out how long Santi Cazorla will be out for as the midfielder continues to nurse a niggling Achilles injury that’s kept him out since the 6-0 win over Ludogorets in mid-October.

Wenger says that while Cazorla hasn’t suffered any sort of setback, they simply need to wait for the inflammation to subside before the Spaniard will be given the green light to make his comeback.

The boss told Arsenal.com:

on Elneny…
He was sick before the game. He decided he felt well enough. I could see after five or 10 minutes that he was not right. He has no medical injury problem, but he has diarrhea or a stomach problem.

on Giroud and Cazorla…
Giroud is short, but has a chance to be available for Saturday. Cazorla I don’t know, honestly. It’s just inflammation. It can go in two days, two weeks – I don’t know. He has no setback, the inflammation is just still here. At the moment, it’s stable.

So it looks as though Elneny will be back in action soon while Giroud could be in contention to face the Hammers on Saturday evening but the situation with Cazorla continues to drag on.

We’re sorely missing the little Spaniard as it’s no coincidence our performance levels have dropped since he’s been out so fingers crossed he can get himself back on the pitch as soon as possible.