Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla is not expected back until December after undergoing surgery for the eighth time earlier this week.
Cazorla, 32, hasn’t featured for Arsenal since October and by the time he returns to full fitness it will have been more than 12 months since he last played.
Arsenal struggled to adapt without Cazorla at the heart of their midfield during the middle months of the season and Arsene Wenger will not be able to call upon the Arsenal fan favourite for almost half of next season.
“You feel like throwing in the towel but my desire to play football is above everything,” he told Cadena Ser on Tuesday, via The Independent. “I haven’t been given a timeframe [to return]. It’s very difficult to put a date, but I don’t think it will be before five months.
“It’s been since October that I last played. I’ve undergone eight surgeries, the last one yesterday [Monday]. I hope that things go better.
“I’ve had complications since November. I got a bacterial infection in surgery, my bone got infected, the wound would not close and I had a graft bone.
“I remember I had a bad spell with a back problem [while with Villarreal in 2010] but this is wear because it [healing] doesn’t depend on me. Right now I can’t think about the future, I just want to return to play.
“They [Arsenal] have been very good to me. They gave me a contract extension before I had my surgery [in December]. The coach [Wenger] spoke to me and reassured me.”
While there was no official confirmation of Cazorla’s new deal from Arsenal, it is believed the extension added 12 months to his previous deal taking him up until the end of next season.
Since the start of last season Arsenal have won 68.2% of Premier League matches that Cazorla has started compared to just more than half (51.9%) when he has been absent from the starting XI in the same time period.
For more stats on Santi Cazorla, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
