Arsenal Blow: Arsene Wenger Rules Key Man Out Until At Least March

Arsene Wenger has delivered a blow to Arsenal after confirming that Santi Cazorla will be out until at least March following his latest injury setback.

Cazorla hasn’t featured for the Gunners since aggravating a long-standing Achilles injury during our 6-0 Champions League win over Ludogorets in October 2016.

The Spaniard was initially only expected to be out for a matter of weeks but a series of complications in his recovery led to the 32-year-old needing eight operations over the past year.

Cazorla confirmed in an interview last month that he has lost eight centimeters of his tendon and contracted a bacterial infection that could have led to him losing his foot had it not been treated properly.

The midfielder was finally looking to return to training in January after stepping-up his rehabilitation but those plans were put on ice after Cazorla suffered a heartbreaking setback last month that led to him undergoing his ninth operation.

Wenger has now offered an update and says Cazorla has confirmed he needs to start his recovery all over again which means he won’t be able to start running again until February.

The boss told Football London:

“I sent him a message because he had surgery and wished him well. He (Cazorla) answered ‘I have to start again from zero’.

“It’s very sad. What Santi has gone through is unbelievable. It’s really, really sad. But unfortunately he has to start again from zero.”

“If all goes well he has to wait until he starts to run and after he starts to run it takes six weeks to come back to training.

“When he can start to run again I don’t know. I was hopeful of January, but after this setback certainly now not before February.”

This is devastating news as if Santi doesn’t start running again until February and needs six weeks to get himself fit enough to return to training, it means the best case scenario will see him back in training around late March.

And that’s assuming he doesn’t suffer any further setbacks – which are inevitable – during his rehabilitation so it’s looking increasingly unlikely that we’ll see Cazorla play for the first team again.

It’s a major blow for the club as Cazorla was a vital player for us before he suffered this injury and I don’t think we’ve been the same team without him in the starting eleven.