Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen confirms he needs surgery to finally solve achilles injury

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Blow: Thomas Vermaelen needs surgeryThomas Vermaelen hasconfirmed he needs anoperation on his achilles injuryand will miss both legs ofArsenals Champions League tiewith Barcelona.
Less than a week afterSportsmail exclusively revealedhe was facing surgery, theArsenal centre back admittedhe was heading for SwedensUmea Hospital to be operatedon by local specialist HakanAlfredson tomorrow.
Although Alfredson, who hasoperated on Zlatan Ibrahimovic,has assured Vermaelen he willput an end to months of injurymisery, the 10million signingfrom Ajax still faces at least afurther five weeks out.I have already tried to comeback three times, but the painproved too much on eachoccasion, said Vermaelen, 25.Recent tests showed a minorproblem next to the achillestendon has been causing thepain. Thats why Ill undergosurgery. I knew I had a problemat the beginning of September,when I was preparing forBelgiums games againstGermany and Turkey.
'I didntwant to miss them, but after thegame in Turkey, the painbecame too great.
Despite being withoutVermaelen, Arsenal wereback to something approachingtheir sumptuous best onSaturday with a 3-0 defeat ofWest Ham in the BarclaysPremier League.
ArseneWengerblamed fatigue for his sides 1-0mid-week loss at Ipswich in thefirst leg of their Carling Cupsemi-final, but four changes crucially the introduction ofSamir Nasri on the left andRobin van Persie up front heralded a very differentArsenal performance.Theo Walcott who set up VanPersies opener, scoredArsenals second and won apenalty said: The likes ofTottenham havegot a very goodforward line,but I believeweve got thestrongest.
'Weve gotdifferentoptions aswell.Everyone is different and thatsthe great thing with this Arsenalteam. This could turn into agreat year for us.

Hopeful: Theo Walcott is keeping his fingers crossed for a happy 2011Weve played Chelsea twice,(Manchester) City twice andweve got a good run-in.
But whether Arsenal cancompete on four fronts CarlingCup, FA Cup, Premier League andthe Champions League remains to be seen. Wengeradmitted he will have to makechanges for Wednesdays FA Cupreplay against Leeds at EllandRoad, conceding it was a gameArsenal could do without.
The Gunners boss said: I will gofor it, but we will have to rotate.Our success depends on the waythe whole squad can focus onthe different competitions. Ibelieve we have the quality, nomatter what I do onWednesday, to qualify.
'So itsjust how much we are ableto focus on thecompetition. The timing is not the bestbut it is down to us.

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  • West Ham 0 Arsenal 3: Gunners pour salt on Avram's wounds
  • Arsenal boss Wenger priced out of move for Bolton defender Cahill
  • Title race is in our own hands, insists Wenger as Gunners go third


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