Arsenal striker Robin van Persie faces five months
out
Saturday 14 November 2009
Arsenal striker Robin van Persie
will be sidelined for up to five months after being
told he needs an operation on his injured ankle ligaments.
Van Persie, 26, who suffered the injury while playing
for the Netherlands on 14 November, was initially expected
to be out for about six weeks.
However, scans have revealed the injury is worse than
originally feared.
"Robin will undergo surgery next week in Amsterdam
to reconstruct the ligaments," said a club statement.
"The club's medical team anticipate that a full
recovery will take between four and five months."
Van Persie, was stretchered off 10 minutes into the
friendly against Italy, following the challenge by defender
Giorgio Chiellini during the 0-0 draw.
He has scored eight goals in 15 games in all competitions
this season but he is not expected to play again until
the end of March at the earliest.
Van Persie, who had his ankle put in plaster on Friday,
said: "If I had known at the time what I know now,
I would have been operated on immediately.
"We have all been steered in the wrong direction."
However, he does not regret flying to Serbia to have
placenta fluid dripped on his injured ankle by specialist
Mariana Kovacevic in an effort to cure him.
He said: "In the area of torn muscles and partly
torn ligaments she has treated players in the majority
of cases with success.
"A number of Liverpool and Chelsea players have
all benefited from her treatments. They were all back
on the pitch in a very short time.
"As I was enjoying a fantastic period with Arsenal
and the first official diagnosis from the doctors was
that I would be out for six weeks, I wanted to bring
that period back to three or four weeks.
"But the ligaments in my ankle were completely
ruptured. That's why the treatment in Serbia, we know
now, never had the chance to be successful from the
start."
His lengthy absence will also be felt by the Dutch
as they prepare for the 2010 World Cup which starts
on 11 June.
Van Persie's career in north London has been interrupted
by a succession of injuries - he broke a toe in January
2006, fractured a metatarsal in January 2007 and damaged
a knee on international duty in October 2007.
After enjoying a relatively injury-free 2008-09 season,
he has started all of Arsenal's Premier League games
this season, and, along with his eight goals, has eight
assists.
All of Van Persie's goals have come in the last 11
games and the former Feyenoord forward has helped propel
Arsenal to within five points of Premier League leaders
Chelsea with a game in hand.
His absence leaves the Gunners short in attack, with
Nicklas Bendtner sidelined until mid-December following
minor groin surgery.
Arsenal are also currently without the injured left-backs
Gael Clichy and Kieran Gibbs.
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