LONDON -- Arsene Wenger says Santi Cazorla's three-month injury layoff is "very bad news" for Arsenal, while Mathieu Debuchy is facing up to six weeks on the sidelines.
Cazorla will have surgery in Sweden next week after failing to recover from an inflamed tendon in the heel of his right foot, which he injured back in October. Wenger said it could be "at least two months" rather than the three the club had initially reported, but said there would be no need to enter the transfer market in January.
"For me It's very bad news. Because you know always the date of the surgery, but never the date when the player will play again," Wenger said at his news conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League game at West Ham. "And I always try to put absolutely everything in place to avoid surgery. Because it creates always anxiety and rehab.
"And overall I think when you can avoid it you have to avoid it. But in this case unfortunately we have come to that conclusion. Now they tell me that he will be out for two months at least. But two months can sometimes be three as well."
Arsenal have struggled to replace Cazorla's creativity in midfield so far, but Wenger rejected the idea that he should buy another midfielder in January. Arsenal bought Granit Xhaka in the summer, and also have Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey and Mohamed Elneny as options.
"In midfield we have many players," he said. "There are two reasons [not to buy]. First of all we have the number and the quality. And secondly, in the January transfer market, you will not necessarily find a Cazorla, even if you wanted to."
Wenger had more bad news as he said Mathieu Debuchy will be out for up to six weeks with the hamstring injury he suffered against Bournemouth last weekend, his first game of the season. That leaves Arsenal without both their first-choice top right-backs as Hector Bellerin remains out with an ankle problem.
"It's a severe hamstring injury. Six weeks, I think," Wenger said about Debuchy, who had been sidelined with a calf injury until the Bournemouth game. "It's frustrating for me, but even more for him because he fights very hard.
"He is a guy who has exceptional attitude and is very serious. Overall, I think that he is absolutely disappointed, but he is as well a fighter and he will fight to come back."
Wenger confirmed that Debuchy's injury will likely rule out a possible move away from the club in January. The French defender went on loan to Bordeaux in January in search of more playing time after losing his starting role to Bellerin.
"Yes of course. Until mid January he will not really be available," Wenger said. "But usually he recovers quickly."
He added that striker Olivier Giroud faces a fitness test on a hamstring problem and could miss the game at West Ham, although the Frenchman should be back for the Champions League trip to Basel next week.
Cazorla missed nearly six months of last season after injuring his knee in November, and then having a setback with a heel problem that delayed his return until May. But the decision to have surgery came as a surprise after Wenger said on Wednesday the Spaniard could be back in a couple of weeks. But he said even specialists are unsure why the injury isn't getting any better.
"What's going wrong is that he has an inflammation at the back of his foot that nobody knows really where it comes from," Wenger said. "Because he has been treated against this inflammation and the injections, the anti inflammation has not got rid of it.
"The surgeon we consulted decided to have an exploratory surgery, that means open and see what's going on in there.
"Santi is desperate to play football. He's only happy on the football pitch. But he himself wants to come out of his vicious circle, going out and coming in again, and wants just to cure it."