Arsenal full-back Mathieu Debuchy has had surgery on his left ankle and will be out for about three months, manager Arsene Wenger said on Monday.<\/p>\n
The France international joined Arsenal from Newcastle United for 12 million pounds ($19.6 million) in July and has played only seven times for his new club.<\/p>\n
He suffered the injury after falling awkwardly when Arsenal drew 2-2 with Manchester City on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n
“He has had surgery and will be out for three months,” Wenger told the club’s website.<\/p>\n
“A reasonable delay is three months. It all went well, but it can be a week or two earlier, or a week or two later, but it will be around three months.<\/p>\n
“It is a blow, of course, how big it will be we will only know afterwards because it will be down to how well we replace him. We bought (Calum) Chambers for that.”<\/p>\n
Wenger has been criticised by Arsenal supporters for not having ensured sufficient cover at the back after allowing Thomas Vermaelen to leave for Barcelona.<\/p>\n
The Gunners’ defensive frailties were exposed when they lost 2-0 at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last week. But they kept a clean sheet in a 3-0 defeat of Aston Villa on Saturday, moving up to fourth in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
Their next match is at home to Southampton in the League (Capital One) Cup on Tuesday before the north London derby with Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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