With the recent news that Santi Cazorla is set to miss out on a decent chunk of the beginning of next season thanks to his Achilles injury, is it time to start questioning whether his career is actually over?

The little Spaniard was subbed off during Arsenal’s demolition of Ludogorets at the Emirates in last year and while Arsene Wenger insisted at the time that the 32-year-old wouldn’t be sidelined for that long, the fans knew better.

Santi has a history of injury problems with his Achilles issue dating back to the 2015/16 season.

Sure enough, his return date kept getting pushed back, he was nowhere to be seen in training with the rest of the squad, and before we knew it, the midfielder was undergoing one surgery in Sweden, and then another.

He was set to return for next season, which was pushed back to October – a whole year since he’d been sidelined – and now no one appears to know when or even if he’ll play again, with reports claiming that he’ll miss out on most of the 2017/18 season.

Even if Santi heals well enough to play football again at Arsenal before his contract runs out next summer, his fitness levels will be so low that he’ll find it difficult to return before the end of the season.

Therefore, perhaps it is time that we say goodbye to Santi?

It’ll be tough since we’re mostly terrible without him, no one can control a midfield like he can, but I think we’re pretty used to it by now.