Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla hopes to return to action in five months after undergoing another operation this week -- his eighth since suffering a right ankle injury in October.
Cazorla, 32, last played when Arsenal beat Ludogorets 6-0 in the Champions League on Oct. 19.
The Spain international was initially expected to return in November but had to have ankle surgery in December in Sweden, before having a graft done earlier in the year and then going under the knife again in February.
Cazorla called the 2016-17 campaign "the worst season of his career."
"You feel like throwing in the towel but my desire to play football is above everything," he told Cadena Ser. "I haven't been given a timeframe [to return to action]. It's very difficult to put a date, but I don't think it will be before five months.
"It's been since October that I last played. I've undergone eight surgeries, the last one yesterday [Monday]. I hope that things go better."
Cazorla added: "I've had complications since November. I got a bacterial infection in surgery, my bone got infected, the wound would not close and I had a graft done.
"I remember I had a bad spell with a back problem [while with Villarreal in 2010] but this is worse because it [healing] doesn't depend on me. Right now I can't think about the future, I just want to return to play."
Cazorla says Arsenal, the club he joined in August 2012 from La Liga side Malaga, have been extremely supportive of him.
He signed a one-year contract extension in December with his previous deal ending this summer.
"They [Arsenal] have been very good to me," he said. "They gave me a contract extension before I had my surgery [in December]. The coach [Arsene Wenger] spoke to me and reassured me."
Cazorla is happy that Wenger has decided to continue at the club. The 67-year-old, at the helm of Arsenal since 1996, is out of contract at the end of June but sources have told ESPN FC he has agreed a new two-year deal to remain at the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger led Arsenal to a 13th FA Cup and a seventh of his own with Saturday's final victory against Chelsea at Wembley.
"He is key to this club," Cazorla said of Wenger."He hadn't told us anything [regarding a new deal] but we are all delighted. The coach has done great things for the club, not just now but in the past. The club values his career. He has done miracles."