Arsenal FC: Center Back Update, Johan Djourou and Thomas Vermaelen Edition

During the last two weeks things haven’t been going well for Arsenal Football Club. During these couple of weeks, key players were injured, and the club was knocked out of three competitions.

In the last couple of days news about Arsenal center back Thomas Vermaelen has surfaced. It seems as if a lot of time has passed since the last time fans received any word on Vermaelen's recovery.

When he picked up his Achilles injury seven months ago on international duty, it was announced that he would return to action in two weeks, but Vermaelen has not featured for Arsenal since the end of August.

In January, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger announced that Vermaelen would undergo a minor surgical procedure to remove the tendon near his Achilles that was causing his problems.

Initially Wenger said it would only be six weeks until Vermaelen would be fit enough to take the field for Arsenal. Hopes were then raised that he would be fit to play against Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League knockout round.

Since then, news on the injured defender has died down, and now there are questions over whether Vermaelen will play again at all this season.

In an interview with Belgium newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Vermaelen revealed that he has already suffered six relapses during his recovery. "I relapsed six times. That was hard. Every time I had a goal to come back, but that was then broken again and again,” he said.

He admits, "I do not know when I will be back. At first they said I would need four or six weeks after the operation. But it soon became apparent that it would last longer. I'm not even in training. I'm still working on my exercises to come back.

"I am now cautious. It is frustrating that I cannot play. I had never been injured for so long. On some days it's mentally very tough but I see this as a test. Perhaps it is also good for my career and it will make me stronger mentally."

Now Wenger has stepped forward making this announcement: “For Thomas Vermaelen the season is over.” It is not that he is still injured; it is a matter of match fitness.

Wenger continued in his pre-match interview, “In fairness he has not played since September. I never expected him to be fit before the end of the season. He is not out on the field yet, and it is impossible [for him to play] after six months without competition. I am confident he will have a full recovery, but for this season we cannot rely on him.”

So, one center back ruled out for the rest of the season.

Ever since Johan Djourou was stretchered off the pitch in last Saturday's FA Cup quarterfinal, different—and contradicting—statements have been surfacing about how soon, if at all, Djourou will be able to return to action this season.

Immediately after the quarterfinal, Wenger claimed that Djourou’s season was over. Then the Swiss FA announced that he could be fit for the international break. The Arsenal manager has stepped out to set the matter straight.

Djourou is not expected to be back as soon as the Swiss FA says, but he has a chance to be back before the end of the season.

“Johan Djourou is out for at least six weeks,” Wenger said. “There’s a little chance [he will play again this season], he has an arthroscopy on Monday and we will know more about the damage in his shoulder. We hope we will have good news, but no matter what happens he will be out for six weeks.”

But this could all turn out to be untrue. As we know with injury news coming out of Arsenal, nothing is certain.