Chimy Avila: When I'm tired of going to rehab I think of all of the people who face cancer therapy Osasuna Spoke to MARCA

Chimy Avila's favourite saying is 'he who forgets where he comes from does not know where he's going', but that's not something that could ever be said of him.

The Osasuna forward is from Empalme Graneros, one of the most humble neighbourhoods in Lionel Messi's native Rosario.

"It had to come sometime given the intensity that I always play with," Avila told MARCA about his serious knee injury.

"I play every game as if it's my last. I've been hit with this injury and now I have to keep a cool head.

"Better times are coming."

Ezequiel by birth, Avila has a couple of nicknames and he goes by more than just Chimy, which comes from the spice packed into small doses of chimichurri sauce.

He's also known as El Comandante - the Commander - which was assigned to him by his daughters and has led to him celebrating his goals with a Che Guevara salute.

But Avila is out of action now with an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which he picked up in Osasuna's game against Levante and he says that he knew it was bad from the moment of contact.

"In the impact I felt a whiplash," he explained.

"Adrian was the first to approach me and I told him that I had broken it.

"Roberto Carlos wrote to me, Sergio Ramos called me to offer help in the recovery... players that I used to watch as a child on TV.

"That has given me even more strength."

As far as Avila's own career was concerned, the setback came at the wrong time, with Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla all looking at him during the winter transfer window.

But with a wry smile, the Argentinian dismissed those rumours.

"I was only thinking about achieving survival with Osasuna," he added.

"I didn't think about those things.

"Maybe when I'm back my agent he will tell me things."

Avila did hint that something exciting was on the cards though, saying "there was a person who messaged me before every game on WhatsApp, but now that I'm injured I don't receive those messages".

But he wouldn't go as far as to reveal the mystery person's identity, not even answering if it was the Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni or not, though he admits a desire to play alongside Lionel Messi.

"Everyone would like to play with him because he's the best in the world," the 26-year-old said.

"But it's not a dream, as such.

"All of this has to be overcome first, but it could happen with the national team as well [as at Barcelona]."

Problems with the law kept the forward away from football for two years as a youth, but at 18 he became a bricklayer in Rosario, and he hasn't forgotten the people who surrounded him then.

"When I think of the boys I played or studied with, I know that one of them has died and another is in jail," he revealed.

"I think how close I was.

"Today I think more about my family and I try to make my daughters understand the importance of valuing things.

"God gave me an opportunity to be here and I cannot blame him for my injury.

"It's a sad situation but there are people who are missing an arm or a leg.

"Sometimes when I'm tired of going to rehab I think of people who have to go to cancer therapy and realise that mine is a crumb compared to the bead others have had to eat.

"So every day I get up with more strength and desire to come through this."