Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla will undergo foot surgery that will rule him out for three more months, dealing a major blow to the Gunners' title hopes.
Arsenal announced on Thursday that Cazorla, 31, will travel to Sweden next week for the operation after struggling to recover from an inflamed Achilles.
The Spain international has been sidelined since the Gunners' 6-0 Champions League victory over Ludogorets Razgrad on Oct. 19, and manager Arsene Wenger said on Wednesday that he was still hopeful his player would recover within a couple of weeks.
However, Arsenal said in a statement: "Santi Cazorla is travelling to Sweden early next week to undergo surgery to his right ankle. The club's medical team and specialists have decided that surgery is required to the plantaris tendon in the Spain international's right foot.
#GetBetterSoonSanti https://t.co/15IU0kzCpv
- Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) December 1, 2016
"The problem has not progressed during a rehabilitation programme following the injury during the home match with Ludogorets on October 19. We expect Santi's full recovery to take approximately three months.
"Everyone at the club will be working hard with Santi to make sure he's back on the pitch as soon as possible."
It's a massive blow to Arsenal, whose midfield has struggled to cope with the absence of Cazorla. His quick passing is crucial to the Gunners' possession-based style of play and he serves as the link between defence and attack for Wenger's side.
Wenger has tried different central midfield combinations between Francis Coquelin, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey and Mohamed Elneny without finding an effective solution so far.
The Arsenal boss acknowledged last week that Cazorla has been sorely missed, but also said his squad has enough quality to cope without him.
"He's important to our technical stability in the team, to the quality of our decision-making and to our build-up from deep midfield to the high midfield," Wenger said ahead of last Sunday's 3-1 win against Bournemouth.
"That's an important stage because it gets the ball out from the defenders. We have enough quality players in our side to get around that, even if Santi is a massive player for us. We are good enough to find solutions despite the fact he's not there."