Serious setback for Robin van Persie

Arsenal have confirmed that Robin Van Persie will be sidelined for a further four to five months after tests revealed he ruptured three of the four ligaments in his right ankle during a friendly between Netherlands and Italy.

Robin van Persie winces after sustaining his injury

Van Persie suffered the injury following a challenge from Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini earlier in the month and the club initially announced an encouraging diagnosis of a six-week recovery period due to a tear in one of his ligaments.

However, further examinations have revealed much more extensive damage and Van Persie had his ankle put in plaster on Friday. He will now undergo surgery on the problem and Arsenal anticipate that he will be unavailable until the end of March at the earliest.

"Robin van Persie returned to Arsenal on November 22nd following an ankle injury sustained whilst on international duty with Holland," read a club statement. "The injury was expected to keep him out of action for between four and six weeks.

"Upon his return, the Arsenal medical team conducted a thorough review of his scans, his early injury management and the treatment he had received. Having scrutinised these in detail and assessed the response of his ankle, the club's medical team concluded that further investigation and opinion was required.

"Advice was sought from the leading ankle specialist Mr Niek van Dijk, who confirmed that more extensive damage had been suffered than was first diagnosed. In order to repair his ankle, Robin will undergo surgery next week in Amsterdam to reconstruct the ligaments. The club's medical team anticipate that a full recovery will take between four and five months.''

The news is a sizeable blow to Arsenal's ambitions of ending their wait for a trophy underArsene Wenger as Van Persie was in the form of his life prior to the injury, scoring seven goals and claiming seven assists in 11 Premier League games.