The Gunners manager admits he does not know whether the 35-year-old has played his last game for the club after scans revealed "serious" damage to his thigh muscle
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed the club are “shocked” by the thigh injury that could signal the end of Tomas Rosicky’s career in north London.
The 35-year-old midfielder suffered the injury against Burnley last weekend on his first appearance following a seventh-month absence.
Rosicky is out of contract at the end of the season and, with Arsenal highly unlikely to renew is deal, may have played his last game for the club after scans revealed the damage to his muscle was worse than anticipated.
“How long will it take? Two to three months,” Wenger said. “At the moment we are all shocked and he’s the most shocked.
“His injury is quite a serious muscle injury. The good news is that apparently he will not need surgery. It’s a partial rupture.
“We have to be patient and hope that it was not his last game. I don’t want to be dramatic, he suffers enough at the moment. I’m more in a support attitude than dramatic.”
Meanwhile, Wenger revealed that Danny Welbeck will continue his comeback from knee surgery by playing for the under-21 side against Brighton at London Colney on Friday.
Welbeck is back in first-team training but has not played since last April - and Wenger believes he will need another three weeks before he can return to action.
Wenger added: “I believe he needs to play two or three games before thinking of coming back into the first team. He hasn’t played for 10 months. He has a good basic fitness but he has to get competitiveness and decision-making.
“We can organise games internally without being official games. In the next three weeks he should be available.”
- Goal