• Midfielder out since February with ruptured cruciate ligament
• 'I realise I have good people around me', he says
Mikel Arteta has offered Everton consolation over his delayed recovery from knee surgery by saying the ordeal has brought a realisation he should end his career at Goodison Park.
The Spanish midfielder has been out since rupturing a cruciate ligament at Newcastle United in February and has postponed two scheduled returns because of complications that have required further surgery. Arteta underwent a third operation on his knee a fortnight ago after contracting an infection and is reluctant to set a third date for a comeback while he recuperates at home in Spain.
A nine-month absence, however, has given the 27-year-old perspective on his status at Everton and heightened his desire to extend his four-year stay on Merseyside.
"I think when you are away and you look at things â€" not just as a professional, as a footballer, but as a person â€" you realise you have got good people around you," he said. "It is not easy to find that in football. I have been in other football clubs and I'm telling you this is a special one. People say we are a family â€" we really are. We really are different and we really do things differently from other clubs."
The former Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain, Rangers and Real Sociedad player added: "You never know how long you are going to spend with a club, but what I can say is that I can see myself finishing my career at Everton. That wouldn't surprise me at all.
"The papers say, 'Mikel wants to go back to Spain soon'. That is not true, I never said that. They say would you like to come one day, probably I would like that but maybe I am going to stay for another seven years. I would like to win a trophy with the club. We have got the potential to do it."
Arteta's influence on David Moyes's team has been sorely missed and, while Everton are hopeful he will return in January, the midfielder admits he cannot put an accurate timescale on his recovery.
"It has been a hard period for me but sometimes you can avoid problems and sometimes you have to take it the way it comes," he added. "There was no explanation for the infection. They have had three cases like that in 35 years and the surgeon does thousands of operations a year.
"The surgeon and the medical staff at the club don't want to talk about time, because there is no point. The only worry is to get my knee fixed properly and to get it fixed for the next seven or eight years of my career. That is my only aim. I want to be playing as soon as possible; but only as soon as my knee says I am ready to do it, because there is no point risking it. I have had three operations and I need to take it carefully."
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