Cazorla to miss up to four months, Wenger reveals

Arsene Wenger is willing to shoulder the blame for Arsenal’s current injury crisis – but also pointed to an incident at Norwich that could have led to Alexis Sanchez’s hamstring problem.

The Chile worldwide limped off during the second half of the Gunners’ 1-1 draw with Norwich City last weekend after suffering the muscular problem at Carrow Road and will definitely miss Sunderland’s visit to The Emirates on Saturday.

It was unclear at first whether or not or not the previous Malaga star would have to go beneath the knife.

“It’s possible, yes”, Wenger told reporters on Friday when asked if Cazorla could be out of action until March as had been widely reported. It’s not the season.

“He wanted to cut back”, said Wenger.

He said: “He has gone to see a specialist in Spain, and I don’t know more about it. It could be a rupture. And he stated ‘Okay, let’s do it right away'”.

Arsenal need someone who cannot only play in midfield but also can control games and have the same passing and distribution skills that Cazorla has. As BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty noted, Wenger admitted Sanchez came into the match with a hamstring issue and chose to play him regardless.

“I never force anyone to play”.

“You can not say the player is a super player, and when he doesn’t play that you don’t suffer”.

Arsenal has 10 players out, continuing the club’s poor injury record in recent seasons.

The Daily Telegraph describes the interview as “wide ranging” and reports that Wenger said he could not imagine managing another club, although he has close contacts at Paris Saint-Germain. “For our serene side, it is better to prepare for the Olympiakos game knowing that we have won”. “Hopefully we’re going to see more of him in that form”.

“We got off to a good win today for December and hopefully we can continue this and keep ourselves in the hunt for the league and to hopefully qualify for the Champions League as well”.