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Arsenal boss confirms key man has been ruled out for the season

By mac14 on March 30, 2017

Arsene Wenger has confirmed Santi Cazorla will not play again this season as the Arsenal midfielder continues to overcome an Achilles injury.

Cazorla has been on the sidelines since aggravating the long-standing issue during our 6-0 Champions League win over Ludogorets back in mid-October.

The 32-year-old was only initially expected to be out for a matter of days but after the inflammation refused to subside, Cazorla went under the knife in early December.

The hope was he would be back in action during the early stages of the New Year, however, further set-backs meant Santi would undergo a second operation which ruled him out for at least another six weeks.

There has been very little progress recently and while there were slight hopes that Cazorla could return during the closing stages of the season, Wenger has now confirmed that we won’t see the midfielder again this campaign.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Man City game, Wenger is quoted by Football London as saying:

On Cazorla’s fitness
I think the season is over for him.

This news was inevitable and I said back in January that I would be surprised if Cazorla played again this season as he’s struggled to overcome his Achilles problems for the past two years.

The loss of Cazorla has proven to be devastating to our season as he’s the man to make us tick and we just can’t seem to get going without him instigating things from midfield.

While the futures of Sanchez and Ozil dominate the headlines, I think finding a replacement for Cazorla or adapting our playing style without him is just as important for Arsenal to sort out this summer.