Thursday 16 November 2017 11:27, UK
Arsene Wenger says Santi Cazorla's ankle injury is the "worst" he has ever seen, but has refused to rule out a January return for the Arsenal midfielder.
Cazorla has not featured for the Gunners since October 2016 after he sustained an achilles problem during their 6-0 Champions League win over Ludogorets.
The 32-year-old revealed earlier this month that he was once told by a doctor he would be lucky to walk again after almost losing his foot due to a serious infection.
As a result of the treatment Cazorla has lost eight centimetres of his achilles tendon and has undergone eight surgeries since the issues with his ankle began in 2013.
Wenger initially left Cazorla out of his 25-man Premier League squad with the intention for him to return in January, and the 68-year-old is still hopeful that could be the case.
"It is the worst injury (I have seen)," the Gunners boss said.
"It started with a pain in the achilles and it has gone from worse to worse and I must say I know how much Santi loves to play football and loves to be out there every day and I feel very sorry for what happened to him, because it is unbelievable.
"I saw him one month ago, he was here, and I told him to prepare as well as he can.
"He has competent medical people around him and he tries to practise, but I have not spoken to him recently but I hope he comes back. I left him out of the squad, hoping he would be available in January."
When it was put to Wenger if there were doubts over whether Cazorla would ever play again, the Frenchman replied: "Let's not talk about that, but I hope you are wrong."