Santi Cazorla injury 'the worst' Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has ever seen

Wenger hopes that Cazorla will be able to return to football
Arsenal FC via Getty Images
James Olley16 November 2017

Arsene Wenger has described Santi Cazorla’s Achilles injury as "the worst I have ever known" but denied the midfielder’s career is over.

Cazorla revealed the full extent of the problem that has sidelined him since October 2016 in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca earlier this month, claiming he almost had his foot amputated during a period in which he underwent eight operations in a year.

The Spaniard, who turns 33 next month, was left out of Arsenal’s Premier League and Europa League squads as he continues his rehabilitation in Salamanca with a view to adding him to the group should he prove his fitness during January.

Wenger told Standard Sport: "It is the worst injury I have known, starting with a pain in the Achilles and it has gone from worse to worse.

"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."

The sheer complexity of both diagnosing Cazorla and facilitating his comeback has raised questions as to whether he will ever feature in a competitive match again.

Having originally pencilled in a return date earlier in the New Year, Wenger was more circumspect about Cazorla’s availability this morning at the club’s London Colney training base.

"I saw him one month ago, he was here, and I told him to prepare as well as he can," said Wenger. "He can 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."

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Pushed on fears Cazorla’s career was in doubt, Wenger replied: "Let’s not talk about that, but I hope you are wrong."

Arsenal face Tottenham in Saturday’s north London derby with other fitness concerns as Shkodran Mustafi and Danny Welbeck require late fitness test on hamstring and groin injuries respectively.

Olivier Giroud will miss the game due to a thigh problem sustained on international duty with France - he will attempt to resume training again on Monday - while there is a doubt over Alex Iwobi as he is due to report back from Nigeria’s game against Argentina in Russia later today due to the length of his journey to London.