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Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla offers injury update

By mac14 on February 23, 2016

Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has offered an update on his recovery from a knee injury and says he hopes to be back in time for the second leg against Barcelona.

Cazorla has been on the sidelines since suffering knee ligament damage during our 1-1 draw at Norwich City in late November and was ruled out for at least three months following surgery in Spain.

The playmaker returned to light training earlier this month and Arsene Wenger confirmed at his press conference last Friday that Cazorla was ‘weeks away’ from making his first team comeback.

It looks like Santi has now set himself the target of getting match fit again inside the next three weeks as he’s told reporters he’d like to play some part in our Champions League second leg against Barcelona at the Nou Camp on March 16.

Speaking ahead of tonight’s first leg at the Emirates, Cazorla has been quoted by ESPN as saying:

“I want to come back, it is hard to be outside and not be able to help,”

“Even more in a game as important as this against Barca. My objective is to be back for the second leg. The knee is improving all the time, and I hope to make it.”

We have a packed schedule over the next three weeks with an FA Cup replay and a possible quarter final to come as well as Premier League games against Manchester United, Swansea, Tottenham and West Brom, so Santi is still going to miss plenty of crucial matches.

However, it would be a huge boost if we could have him back for the second leg against Barca as we’ve sorely missed his calm head and distribution skills in the middle of the park.

Let’s hope he doesn’t suffer any setbacks when we steps up his rehab and resumes first team training as he could still play a crucial part in our run-in.