Santi Cazorla: Shocking infection saw Arsenal ace nearly lose his FOOT

The surgeries have led to the Spanish playmaker losing eight centimetres from the tendon on his right ankle.

And in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca, Cazorla has opened up on his long road to recovery.

The front page of the paper uses a powerful image showing the extent to which going under the knife several times has caused to Cazorla’s ankle.

The loss of skin around his tendon meant a skin graft was required from his arm tattoo to help the healing process.

“In the early stages it was feeling a little better, if I got warmed up I could play, but at the break when I cooled down a bit, I would cry," he told Marca.

"At that time I was still playing and they (doctors) told me it was okay. The problem was that it did not heal and the wounds would reopen and become infected.

"If you're able to walk in the garden with your son again, you should be satisfied, they told me."

After not being able to find a satisfactory resolution, Cazorla travelled back to Spain to see Dr Mikel Sanchez and had his Achilles tendon reconstructed.

"He saw that I had a tremendous infection," added Cazorla.

"It had damaged part of the calcaneus (heel) bone and had eaten eight centimetres of the Achilles tendon.”

It was also revealed doctors were seriously considering whether to amputate his foot after contracting gangrene.

And those same doctors claimed Cazorla is lucky to be able to walk after a string of operations.

But, remarkably, the 32-year-old has set a target of returning to action as early as January.

And Arsene Wenger admitted last month Cazorla could return to action in the New Year, but first must do some work with the reserves.

"The first signs are positive, but still he has not played for one and a half years," he said.

"He is not in full training yet, he needs a few games with the reserve team. So I think if all goes well, it will be after Christmas."