Denis Suarez's painful confession about his time at Arsenal
He says he was only fully fit in the first week that he was with the Gunners
Denis Suarez has admitted to The Athletic that his stay at Arsenal was ruined by injury, sustaining the problem against BATE Borisov in the Europa League.
"I played in my first game against Manchester City and then 10 days later I got injured (in the first leg) against BATE Borisov in the Europa League. I had too much pain in my groin," Denis told the Athletic.
"I did tests and scans and nothing was in my groin, but there was a big edema around the pubic bone. I had sharp pain when I ran, when I shot, when I passed. It was so difficult. I was at something like 30 per cent of my fitness."
The former Barcelona midfielder said the pain he felt at the club was unbearable.
"After the match against BATE Borisov, I had incredible pain. Every movement, every change of direction, every shot. I tried to train through the pain. It became unsustainable. I was not in a state to play at my best.
"Unai could not play me as he knew I was not even near 50 per cent. People started asking, ‘What’s going on with Denis? He has arrived but he isn’t playing. He is on the bench, he plays 15 minutes here or there’.
"But I was in big pain. At half-time of games, when the other substitutes went out to do the main drills on the pitch, I was in the dressing room doing a ton of different exercises so the injury would give me less pain instead of being with the rest of them."
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