Arsenal Rocked By Devastating Injury Blow To Key Man

Arsenal have been rocked by a devastating injury blow after Santi Cazorla was ruled out for the rest of the season as he continues to recover from a serious Achilles problem, according to the Mirror.

Cazorla has been on the sidelines since aggravating a long-standing Achilles injury during our 6-0 victory over Ludogortets in the group stages of the Champions League back in October.

The injury was only initially expected to keep the midfielder out for a matter of weeks, however, it’s turned out to be far more serious than anyone could have anticipated.

After undergoing an operation in December Cazorla suffered a setback in training at the start of January and was forced to go under the knife for a second time with Arsene Wenger hoping he’d be back by the end of February.

However, we’ve had no official update from the club on his recover for several weeks and the Mirror are now reporting that the 32-year-old is now expected to miss the rest of the season.

The newspaper says that consultants hope they have finally solved the long-running issue with Cazorla’s Achilles and Wenger had initially hoped to have the midfielder back for the final stages of the campaign.

However, Cazorla is facing a long recovery period following his latest operation and the Mirror claim the club are now tailoring his treatment with the aim of getting him fit for the start of next season.

The news will come as a huge blow as Cazorla is undoubtedly one of our most important players and it’s no coincidence that our form has dipped since he’s been on the treatment table.

The seriousness of Cazorla’s injury had cast doubt over his future at the club as his contract was due to expire in June but we’ve already taken up the option to extend his deal by an additional 12 months and the Mirror says there is no chance he’ll be leaving this summer.

So it looks like we’re going to have to make-do without our influential Spaniard for the rest of the campaign as we look to secure a top four spot and hopefully lift the FA Cup for the third time in four years.

Unfortunately our options in the centre of the park are limited as Aaron Ramsey is still nursing a hamstring injury while Mohamed Elneny is also facing some time on the sidelines after picking up a calf problem during our win at Sutton United.

The onus is now going to be on Granit Xhaka to control things in midfield during the coming months but I just hope Wenger decides to give Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a run of games and doesn’t go with Francis Coquelin alongside our Swiss star.