Santi Cazorla, last seen limping off during Arsenal’s 6-0 win over Ludogorets in October, will not play again for Arsenal this season according to the Mirror.
Santi Cazorla will miss the rest of the season as he continues to recover from an ongoing ankle problem. [Mirror] #afc pic.twitter.com/O4ErKb5N7m
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) February 22, 2017
Cazorla had an Achilles problem and later underwent surgery in an attempt to solve the problem, which first cropped up as he was coming back from knee injury last season. Cazorla’s injury problems now mean he will have missed 70% of Arsenal’s Premier League games over the past two seasons, missing 5 months last season in addition to the 7 he will miss this season.
Despite his injury problems and age, Cazorla was handed a one-year contract extension last month, a somewhat puzzling move given Cazorla is on fairly high wages, wages that could go to either Mesut Özil or Alexis. Furthermore, it is not like Cazorla has been a mainstay of Arsenal’s midfield; indeed, his injury problems mean it’s irresponsible to plan for him to play. Cazorla is a wonderful player when fit, but Arsenal cannot rely on him to do so, and should really have moved on by now.