Arsenal transfer news: Arsene Wenger rules out signing a replacement for Santi Cazorla in January after he’s ruled out for three months
Gunners boss insists he will not be splashing out on a new midfielder next month
ARSENE WENGER insists Arsenal can cope without Santi Cazorla and has ruled out the idea of signing a midfield replacement in January.
Cazorla is to undergo surgery next week on a heel injury which will rule him out of action until March.
He has already missed Arsenal’s last nine games after suffering the injury during the Champions League win against Ludogorets in mid-October.
But Wenger said: “I will not look to buy someone in January because in midfield we already have the numbers and the quality.
“Besides, we won’t find another Cazorla in January even if we wanted to.
“Of course it is very bad news. We know the date of his surgery but not when he plays again.
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“We always, absolutely try to avoid surgery because an operation always creates anxiety.
“Unfortunately we came to the conclusion that we had no other option.
“Santi is desperate to play and is only happy when he is on the pitch, but he wants to get out of this vicious circle of injury and to cure the problem once and for all.
“He has an inflammation at the back of his foot that no-one knows where it comes from. It all started with a kick in the game against Ludogorets
“He has been having anti-inflammatory injections to get rid of it but the consultant wanted an exploratory operation to see what is going on.”
Wenger defended the seven-week delay between Cazorla suffering the injury and the decision to send him to Sweden for the operation.
He said: “We will have a debrief about the situation but I don’t have any regrets because we always liaise with Santi’s people and he is treated the way we wanted.
“You never know how long bone inflammation will last but now they tell me the he will be out for at least two months but that can sometimes be three months.”
Wenger also confirmed that Mathieu Debuchy will be out for at least six weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in his comeback game against Bournemouth last week at the Emirates Stadium.
The France right-back was forced early in the first half during the 3-1 victory over the Cherries on Sunday.
Mohamed Elneny is also out for the Gunners.
And more crucially, striker Olivier Giroud will also miss tomorrow’s trip to West Ham.
The super sub will be back available for next week’s Champions League trip to Basel.