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Arsene Wenger refuses to rule out new contract for Santi Cazorla but confirms it will depend on his fitness
Arsene Wenger has promised Santi Cazorla a new Arsenal contract - provided he overcame his injury hell.
Wenger gave Cazorla hope of a new deal to replace the one which expires this summer, despite the midfielder revealing he might not play again until next year.
The 33-year-old has been out for 15 months with a serious Achilles injury which has required 10 operations and almost saw him lose his ankle.
He now faces a fight to save his career but Wenger gave him every incentive to prove his “his medical availability at the top level”.
He added of any contract offer: “We have to assess that until the end of the season - if Santi is fit and available to play, then, yes.
“It is a complicated situation because, first of all, we love him; second of all, he is a great football player; but the third situation is that you need to be healthy today to play at the intensity level that is needed in the Premier League. So we have to see if he can absorb that or not.”
Acknowledging Cazorla would struggle to make a comeback this season, Wenger said: “I sent him a message two weeks ago and wished him well and hoping to see him soon. He has not come back yet because he has just had surgery.
“The medical people know much better than I do whether he will play again in 2018 before the end of the season. On that front, before the end of the season will be hard for him.”
Wenger also refused to rule out Olivier Giroud leaving Arsenal before the transfer window closed but warned he would only be allowed to do so if the club signed another striker, amid their ongoing pursuit of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Denying Giroud had asked to leave, he said: “He is an important player here that everyone wants to stay, and there is a high level of respect for Olivier in this club.
“He will certainly get more games and he could only leave if somebody else comes in.”
Wenger allowed Theo Walcott to join Everton this month, with the striker desperate for game time ahead of the World Cup.
The same could be said for Giroud, who has started just one Premier League game all season, but Wenger said: “To lose Theo and Olivier without getting anyone in would be too much; it is too many top-class players to leave the club.”