It looks as if Santi Cazorla could miss the rest of Arsenal’s season with his Achilles’ problem taking longer to heal than expected.

On 7 December, Cazorla went under the knife in Sweden in a bid to rectify his ongoing Achilles’ problem after limping off during Arsenal’s home win over Ludogorets. However, this didn’t appear to be as successful as the club had hoped and Santi underwent another procedure in January. It was said he would be out for 10 weeks.

In February, the 32-year-old was snapped on a night out with Nacho Monreal and wasn’t even able to wear a shoe on his bad ankle, which sparked concerns that we wouldn’t be seeing him on the pitch again for a long time.

Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal
Nacho Monreal and Santi Cazorla, 12 Feb 2017.

Now, The Mirror are claiming that Santi will miss the rest of the season as he’s struggling to overcome the problem and is now instead aiming to be fit for August.

It’s a huge blow since Santi is a massive part of the squad and there doesn’t appear to be any solid date on when he’ll be back, which does make you question why Arsenal have given his a contract extension.

Why Cazorla’s Achilles’ problem is causing him trouble

So, why is this happening? Why is the Spaniard having to fight tooth and nail for his Achilles’ problem to heal?

Achilles’ problems are notoriously difficult to recover from. It’s the thickest, strongest tendon in the human body and, therefore, when it’s damaged, it doesn’t like it at all.

When any of the tiny collagen fibres connecting this tendon are damaged, new ones develop in their place, except, they’re not uniform, they’re all over the place.

All Santi can do is wait, which is the most frustrating part.