adminLONDON. — Arsene Wenger has admitted he knew of Kim Kallstrom’s back injury before signing the midfielder but decided to take a gamble.Wenger made a loan move for the Sweden international after seeing injury deplete his midfield ranks at Arsenal, with Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere sidelined.
But Kallstrom, who has made 108 appearances for his country, arrived from Spartak Moscow with a back injury and faces a month out.
Defending his decision, Wenger said: “The earliest he could be available would be the end of February and the latest would be mid-March.”
“We have to establish the real truth about this story. He arrived here and fell on his back two days before. First of all it’s very difficult to identify a player, who can come in, of that stature and then we made a medical (check) of his back and we found out he had a little micro-fracture.
“We have all played with micro-fractures. Then Spartak Moscow accepted to share the costs – as long as he’s injured they will pay – and we had a decision to make.”
Asked if he considered pulling out of the deal, the Arsenal manager said: “Yes of course it crossed my mind. I would not have signed him if we had two or three more days to do something, but it was Friday night at five o’clock, so it was (a case of) you (sign) nobody or you do it under these conditions. — AFP.
Online Reporter