Poor Santi Cazorla sent out a series of social media posts recently confirming he has had to have yet another operation on his ankle and his comeback will be even further delayed. There was talk of a new year return for the Spanish midget, but it now looks like we won’t be seeing him this season which comes as a real blow for both him and us Arsenal fans who miss the little jinking genius.  I think the thing which really sticks in the throat was the innocuous and wholly unnecessary way he picked up the injury, in the final minutes of a game when we were 6-0 up, last October against Ludogorets in Europe’s second most popular cup competition, the Champions League.

He has now been through NINE operations on his ankle and Achilles tendon, and has been through absolute hell, after even being told he’d be lucky to walk again at one point and has now missed a shocking 14 months of football. Following this latest setback, you’d have to wonder whether we’ll see him in the red and white of Arsenal again – let’s hope so, he’s an amazing player and someone who we desperately miss at Arsenal, we miss his creativity and the ability to set up numerous chances per game, and his lovely smiley face around The Emirates more importantly.

Robert Pires, himself an Arsenal legend announced yesterday, via Marca in The Daily Express that:

“I’ve known Santi for a long time because we played together at Villarreal, he’s my friend and I’m very disappointed for him because he’s a great professional. He’s had the surgery on his Achilles tendon so he’s out for six months. The situation is very difficult and I keep in contact with him…”

How we could do with Cazorla these days, we’ve picked up just two points in our last three games, losing to Manchester United at home, and drawing with Southampton and West Ham over the past week. We return to Premier League action this weekend after Wednesday’s disappointing 0-0 draw with West Ham to face Newcastle on Saturday at 3pm, make sure you get your accas done for the weekend  on one the popular sport betting sites.

Get well soon Santi, stay strong and keep fighting!

Here’s his heartbreaking recent tweet: