Arsene Wenger has now spoken about Santi Cazorla’s ankle injury in greater depth following the news that the Spaniard is traveling to Sweden for surgery.

After injuring what appeared to be his Achilles tendon against Ludogorets at the Emirates back in October, it seems that Cazorla’s ankle injury has refused to heal and, from what the boss says, is actually bone inflammation.

“For me it’s very bad news,” Wenger told the media.

“You always know the date of the surgery but never the date where the player will play again.

“I always try to put absolutely everything in place to avoid surgery because it creates anxiety and rehab. When you can avoid it, you have to avoid it. In this case, unfortunately we have come to that conclusion. I’m told he will be out for two months at least but two months can sometimes be three as well.

“Santi himself wants to get out of that vicious circle of going out and coming in again. He just wants to cure it.”

Santi’s contract with Arsenal runs out at the end of this season and with the midfielder pushing 32, many are fearing the worst: we may lose him for free this summer.

However, Wenger claims that he’s not signing a replacement for Santi in January, since we have enough midfielders at the club and that, even if we wanted to, we could never replace him. There aren’t many Cazorla’s running around.

“Not really, no [Santi will not be replaced],” said Wenger.

“In midfield we have many players.

“There are two reasons – first of all we have the number and the quality and secondly, in the January transfer market, you will not necessarily find a Cazorla, even if you wanted to.”

Could this mean we’ll extend his contract at the end of the season?

I doubt it. I imagine Jack Wilshere has already been lined up when he returns from his loan spell at Bournemouth. The 24-year-old only recently spoke about playing for a new contract in north London.

“At the moment, my head is in Bournemouth,” the midfielder said.

“I know as much as everyone else knows.

“I read what the boss at Arsenal said and at the moment I’m focused on performing for Bournemouth and putting myself in a position where Arsenal want to offer me a new contract and I’m in a strong position at the end of the season.

“At the moment, I’m taking each game as it comes, working hard and I’m looking forward to the next six or seven months here at Bournemouth. We’ll see what happens after that.”

In the mean time, I’m still rooting for our little midfield maestro to pull through this and return. For one more season.