Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted yesterday that he knew about the back injury of Kim Kallstorm before signing him on the deadline day.
The 31-year-old swede has fractured vertebrae, which Arsenal medical team alerted Wenger during an extensive medical on Friday.
The midfielder hurt his back while playing beach football in the winter break in Abu Dhabi. On the deadline day, he flew to London to complete the move. Initially, the first scan during the medical did not show up the problem but in the second scan, Arsenal’s medical stuff spotted the problem and Wenger was alerted that player could be out for at least six weeks.
Wenger felt that it was a risk worth taking. He said, as quoted in The Mirror:
“I’m sure that, if you’ve played football, you might have played with a micro fracture of a vertebra without knowing you had it. You don’t even notice it.
“It crossed my mind (not to complete the deal), but I would not have signed him if we’d had two or three more days to do something. It was 5pm on Friday night, so it was sign him or nobody.
“Spartak are paying his wages for the first six weeks. We thought it would be four to six weeks.
“There is a possibility for every single player that they will not play – but there’s also the chance he scores a winning goal that’s vitally important. We will only know if we’re wrong or right at the end of the season.”
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Meanwhile, Manchester United winger, Wilfried Zaha, who joined Cardiff City on loan in the January transfer window, received a standing ovation from the fans after his blistering debut for the Bluebirds.
The 21-year-old, who joined Man Utd for £15m, struggled to get games under new manager David Moyes. But, could resurrect his career under former United great Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who reckons that Zaha can be as good as Cristiano Ronaldo.
Solskjaer said: “He is one of the best I have seen with the ball.
“He has quick feet and is brave like Cristiano and wants to go forward.
“But he has got to make a decision about how good does he want to be and how much does he love this game. He can grow up to become a proper player like Ronaldo if he wants.
“I have never seen anyone work as hard as Ronaldo. Before training, after training, he was an exceptionally dedicated man and proved to everyone what dedication gets you.
“I am not afraid of using Sir Alex Ferguson or Cristiano as an example when I have to because to get the best out of your talent you need to be dedicated.
“It’s a desire and attitude from within. It’s what you’ve got in your heart and Cristiano’s always had it.”
With that 2-1 victory over Norwich, Cardiff are now off the bottom of the Premier League, but are still in the danger zone, lying 19th in the table.
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