Cazorla reveals amputation scare, hopes for January return

Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla revealed the disturbing ordeal he underwent during his effort to overcome an ankle injury, saying that the knock suffered in 2013 almost cost him his leg.

Just being able to walk again, according to doctors, was considered lucky.

"If you get to walk again with your son in the garden, be satisfied, they told me," Cazorla said in an interview with Spanish outlet Marca.

Despite suffering the injury four years ago - when he tore a ligament while on international duty with Spain - Cazorla still managed to return last season and made 10 appearances in all competitions. He last featured in a Champions League win over Ludogorets in October 2016

A procedure to repair a tendon in his foot in December was followed by a further eight surgeries because the initial wound failed to heal and almost led to his leg being amputated because of an infection.

"(The doctor) saw that I had a tremendous infection, that I had damaged part of the calcaneus bone and it had eaten the Achilles tendon," Cazorla said.

"There was 8 centimetres of it missing!"

Now that the ordeal is almost behind him, Cazorla said he hopes to prove that he's not a shell of his former self on the pitch, as he targets a possible return in the new year.

"I do not have clearance until January, but I will come back by then," he said.