Fighting the good fight, eh EB?
;-)
I admire your loyalty to him, but you've got to face facts. We can't rely on him to play 25+ PL games a season any more, which would equate to him missing nearly a third of the games, a high number. He's made of glass. Which is a damned shame as, when 100% fit, he's one of the most accomplished footballers at the club. But the club won't allow sentiment to dictate their actions (see KDB for recent evidence of that). My guess (and that's all that it can be, as I'm not an "ITK") is that if the club receive an acceptable offer for him, they'll let him go.