Fabregas ruled out for rest of the season

CESC FABREGAS has been ruled out for the rest of Arsenal’s season with a cracked bone in his right leg, confirming his own fears after the Champions League tie against Barcelona on Wednesday night, while Andrey Arshavin may face a similar fate. The Russia midfielder was forced off and, according to his mother, his calf muscle is torn and he might be “out until the end of the season” though the Arsenal website was more optimistic, saying he would be out for three weeks.

Fabregas left the Emirates Stadium on crutches on Wednesday night, and had admitted he feared the worst. The news will be a devastating blow to the plans of manager Arsene Wenger, who had only just got his captain back into full action after a hamstring injury earlier in the campaign.

One crumb of comfort is William Gallas, who also went off early with a calf injury and was initially ruled out for the season by the manager, Arsene Wenger, may yet return in three or four weeks. Given the niggling nature of Gallas’s problem, though, it is wise to be cautious.

Fabregas had been determined to play in the first leg against Barcelona, his boyhood club, and Arsenal’s medical team had given him the all-clear after the knock he took below the right knee during Saturday’s match at Birmingham City. It is understood, though, the bruising Fabregas suffered did weaken the area and contributed to the injury. Fabregas was hurt when he tangled with Carles Puyol to win Arsenal’s late penalty. Having taken the kick and scored, he crumpled to the ground.

The captain played on for the final minutes – despite hearing a crack on impact with Puyol, he was driven on by the adrenaline – but afterwards he said that he was “not good” and feared he had “broken something in the fibula”. His diagnosis proved correct. Although a post-match X-ray was inconclusive, further scans showed the fracture.

“The club can confirm Cesc has suffered a small crack in his right fibula,” read a statement. “As a consequence, Cesc will miss the remainder of the domestic campaign as he will be out for at least six weeks.”

Fabregas must hope he can recover in time to play at the World Cup finals in South Africa; Spain’s opening Group H match is against Switzerland on June 16th. “I hope he recovers as soon as possible so we can start enjoying his play again and he can go to the World Cup because he will be a very important player for us,” Barca captain Puyol told a news conference yesterday.

Wenger also reported Gael Clichy and Denilson were doubts for tomorrow’s game against Wolves with back and groin injuries respectively. “At the moment we are like an army who have come back from a big battle,” he said. “We have some bruises, but we need to recover and then go to the next battle. Who will be available for the next one? I have to wait 24 hours more. William had a recurrence of his calf strain. That is at least three weeks. The next one is Arshavin – calf strain, three weeks.

“Gael Clichy is struggling with a back problem. He might need a breather as well. I don’t know yet, we will assess that tomorrow. Denilson has a groin problem, we will assess that too. Clichy and Denilson are ‘possibles’ to play at the weekend. We have Silvestre and Campbell available. Then of course there is (Tomas) Rosicky and Eduardo. (Carlos) Vela is coming back too.”

With leaders Manchester United hosting Chelsea, Arsenal could close the current gap, which stands at four points, with victory over Mick McCarthy’s relegation battlers – who have won two of their last four games to pull clear of the drop zone.

Wenger, meanwhile, hopes Netherland’s forward Robin van Persie could be back in action by the end of the month after suffering what turned out to be a serious ankle injury while on international duty during November.

The Arsenal manager said: “The latest news on Robin van Persie is very promising, but we have to wait two more weeks to integrate him fully into first team training. “Let’s hope we can give him some big games to aim for at the end of the season.”

GuardianService