Santi Cazorla trains at the Emirates following 18-month injury ordeal

Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has trained at the Emirates for the first time since suffering an Achilles injury that has kept him out since October 2016.

Cazorla was put through his paces by head of performance, Shad Forsythe, ahead of Arsenal's Europa League semi-final first leg against Atletico Madrid. 

The 33-year-old's progress will be welcome news for Arsene Wenger who recently admitted the midfielder's fitness would be the deciding factor in Arsenal's decision whether to offer him a new deal.

Last week Wenger said he hoped the club would be able to offer the Spaniard a new contract.

Cazorla's current deal expires at the end of this season.

"We miss him a lot," said Wenger when questioned on the midfielder's future. 

"I never spoke about it many times, as he was not the subject of the day, but we have missed him a lot in our game. He is an exceptional football player and it is very sad what happened to him, and very sad for Arsenal as well.

"I have not seen him since the League Cup final because he has gone back to his rehab. But the last news I heard is that he is doing very well, so I hope that certainly he will come back before the end of the season and we can make a check-up of where he stands.

"Can he play again in the Premier League? I don't know, I have to see how he responds to his injury."

In November last year Cazorla revealed an infection in his injured ankle almost led to his foot being amputated. 

“The medical professionals told me it was OK, the problem was that it did not heal and the wounds would reopen, and become infected,” said Cazorla in an interview with Spanish newspaper, Marca.

“He saw that I had a tremendous infection, that I had damaged part of the calcaneus bone and it had eaten the achilles tendon. There was eight centimetres of it missing.”