Celta Vigo midfielder Denis Suarez has opened up on his injury hell during a loan spell at Arsenal: “It hurt to sleep, to sneeze…everything.”
The 25-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Arsenal from Barcelona but failed to make any sort of impact – restricted to just six first-team appearances.
This summer, the midfielder returned to Celta – the club where he began his career eight years ago before joining Manchester City.
However, he has now revealed his struggles at the Gunners where down to an injury nightmare which caused him great pain doing basic tasks, including walking up the stairs and he was even unable to shoot at goal.
“It is more frustrating to not play because of injury. I suffered so much at Arsenal that it practically stopped me doing everyday things,” Denis told an interview with Goal.com.
“It hurts when you sleep, when you sneeze and even walking up the stairs. Just imagine going to a club that had called you a month before, with all the hope in the world and not being able to do anything from the second week onward apart from trying to train with huge pain.
“There was a point where I said: 'enough'. I played three or four games but it was as if I didn't because I wasn't even at 50 per cent.
“But the injury is now behind me and despite sometimes feeling a bit of discomfort I am working day and night for it to go away.”
Denis did not rule out a return to the Premier League in the future when asked: “You never know what can happen in the future…I went to Arsenal with great hopes.
“I made my debut against Manchester City but in our first away game I got injured. I thought I had ruptured my adductor because I could barely put weight on the leg or move it.
“The scan showed it was not ruptured, but rather that I had a huge build-up of fluid on my pelvic bone and from there I could not take a single step without feeling pain.
“I carried on training because I didn't want to stop in my second week after arriving but I couldn't do it because I was never at 100 per cent, not even 50. I couldn't even take a shot at goal.”
