London, Nov 28 : Arsenal suffered a huge blow to their hopes of winning silverware this season after Robin van Persie was ruled out for up to five months because of injury.

The Holland striker injured his ankle on international duty November 14 and had initially expected to be out for only six weeks.

But after another scan on the injury, Arsenal said Saturday that the injury will require an operation.

"Robin Van Persie returned to Arsenal on November 22nd following an ankle injury sustained whilst on international duty with Holland," Arsenal said in a statement.

"The injury was expected to keep him out of action for between four and six weeks.

"Upon his return, the Arsenal medical team conducted a thorough review of his scans, his early injury management and the treatment he had received. Having scrutinised these in detail and assessed the response of his ankle, the club's medical team concluded that further investigation and opinion was required.

"Advice was sought from the leading ankle specialist Niek van Dijk, who confirmed that more extensive damage had been suffered than was first diagnosed.

"In order to repair his ankle, Robin will undergo surgery next week in Amsterdam to reconstruct the ligaments. The club's medical team anticipate that a full recovery will take between four and five months."(DPA)