German international Per Mertesacker will be out for an indefinite period after sustaining an ankle injury during Arsenal's 2-1 win against Sunderland last weekend. The 27-year-old, bought during the summer transfer widow as cover for an injury and mistake-prone Gunners back line, has been forced under the knife by the problem, and Arsene Wenger doesn't know when he's getting him back:
Per Mertesacker Injury Blow For Arsenal
Torn ankle ligaments mean that Arsenal defender Per Mertasacker is unlikely to feature for the rest of the season.
Getty Images
Unfortunately he has had surgery and we have lost him for a while. How long I don’t know. He had reconstruction of his ligaments, so it will be long term.
Ligament reconstruction surgery is dicey business, and it appears unlikely that the big man will feature at all for the rest of the season. Fortunately, Arsenal are getting some positive news with the rest of the defence - Laurent Koscielny will not miss significant time after pulling up injured at the San Siro with what turned out to mostly be a case of I-don't-want-to-play-against-Zlatan-anymoritis, and right back Carl Jenkinson is returning to training to provide some cover for Bacary Sagna.
Despite events in Italy, where Arsenal suffered a humiliating 4-0 loss to AC Milan in midweek, the Gunners remain very much in the hunt for fourth place. Mertesacker is a blow there but with the rest of the defence more or less fit, things are looking reasonably positive.
See More:
