Per Mertesacker: Arsenal Defender out Long Term After Ankle Surgery

Grim news for Arsenal today, as German colossus Per Mertesacker will be sidelined "long term" after having reconstructive ankle surgery to repair damaged ligaments.

Mertesacker suffered the gruesome injury again Sunderland when his ankle got stuck in the awful Wearside turf and he popped up as if he had been shot with a rifle.

If you do not want to believe me, take it from Arsene Wenger, via Arsenal.com:

"

Unfortunately he has had surgery and we have lost him for a while, how long I don't know. He had reconstruction of his ligaments. So it will be long term.

"

This is really a devastating blow to Arsenal's hopes of winning a trophy and qualifying for next year's Champions League.

For all the criticism Mertesacker receives due to his lack of pace, his stoic nature and organizational acumen are tremendous assets to the Arsenal back line.

In Arsenal's humiliating midweek defeat against AC Milan, it was clear that these attributes were sorely missed, as Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou and especially Thomas Vermaelen were embarrassed several times by passes which would have been easily dealt with if the defence had been organized.

And now there is almost no depth in the Gunners' defence. Johan Djourou is the only remaining center back before Sebastien Squillaci must be brought back into the team, and if a whopping two players are forced to miss a match due to injury or suspension, there will be no senior players left to cover our wounds.

With Kieran Gibbs perennially unable to stay healthy and Bacary Sagna having just returned to the team, this is a very real possibility.

Thus, the partnership between Vermaelen and Koscielny will be forced to carry us through the end of the season.

Disregarding Vermaelen's fragility and the injury that the latter already picked up against AC Milan, this is not the pair of central defenders that one would choose to man the center of Arsenal's defence.

The Frenchman and the Belgian are extremely similar players in size and style, as both look to get forward, cut out passes and play a high line. Normally, Mertesacker would stay back and guard the goal, but now Arsenal will be deprived of this crucial element.

So now Arsenal's defence becomes much more fragile, in stature and number. There is no point in looking back with dismay, as nearly all of our goals are still in front of us, and we must finish the season strong to achieve them.

But we must hope that Mertesacker gets well soon, because Arsenal will be visibly covering their wounds until the under-appreciated German returns.

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