Quantcast
Home   >   News   >   Wenger confirms huge blow as key man suffers injury setback

Wenger confirms huge blow as key man suffers injury setback

By on January 5, 2017

santi cazorla

Arsene Wenger has confirmed a huge blow with the news that Santi Cazorla’s recovery from surgery is taking longer than expected.

Cazorla last featured for Arsenal during our 6-0 win over Ludogorets in the Champions League back in October and has been on the sidelines after aggravating a long-standing Achilles injury.

The problem proved difficult to shift so Santi was forced to undergo surgery at the start of December and was initially not expected to be back playing with the first team again for two to three months.

Wenger has now revealed that the 32-year-old’s recovery is taking longer than expected with the Spanish international still not ready to even start running again outside.

Once Cazorla is back in light training, Arsene says it will take six weeks before he’ll be available again so it looks as though late February is the soonest we may see him back – although I personally don’t expect to see Cazorla in the first team until well in to March.

Wenger is quoted as saying by the Daily Star:

“At the moment he [Cazorla] is far. It’s not going as quickly as I imagined it. Certainly in January he will not come back.

“It could be a bit longer than three months. At the moment I don’t really know but I have a schedule that he is not planned to go outside and run.

“Once a player goes outside and runs I count six weeks. So obviously in January he won’t play.

The news comes as a huge blow as Cazorla is a vital player who’s been sorely missed over the past few months and will continue to be until he eventually returns, whenever that may be.

We could certainly have done with some positive news on Cazorla as Francis Coquelin has been ruled out for up to 4 weeks with a hamstring injury while Mohamed Elneny is off to the Africa Cup of Nations leaving our options in the middle of the park thin on the ground.