Santi Cazorla says he’s open to signing a new contract at Arsenal although he admits the Gunners have yet to broach the subject of extending his current deal which ends at the end of the season.
The Spanish playmaker, 31, is into his fifth season at the Emirates and continues to deliver consistently eye-catching performances in the heart of midfield having recovered from a knee injury that ravaged his 2015/16 campaign.
So good is Cazorla’s form that even as a veteran he’s still touted as a possible target for Atletico Madrid, a side that have gone toe-to-toe with Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent years.
Reflecting on the link with Diego Simeone’s side, Cazorla made clear to Cadena Ser that he’s happy playing regular football at Arsenal.
“Atletico Madrid are an amazing club”, he said. “Just have a look at their results, El Cholo [Simeone] is doing great things. It is not easy to reach two Champions League finals and win the league.
“I have no particular preference [on future destination]. I honestly do not know what I’ll do if I don’t stay at Arsenal. I don’t know if I’ll go to Spain or another league, it’s a little early.
“If Arsenal don’t give me a new contract I’d have options in Spain or another league, but today it’s not something I’ve even considered. When the day comes I’ll make the decision. Today’s it’s difficult to say.
He added: “There was talk of a move to Atletico [a few years ago] but they were just rumours. I do not want to focus on things that are not real. I want to play, give my best and what will be, will be.
“I do not know what will happen in the future, I don’t close the door on anything, I just want to enjoy football as I couldn’t do that last season.
“I am happy here [at Arsenal]. A player wants to play and from the moment I arrived at Arsenal I’ve had the confidence of the coach. But I only have one year left on my contract and I have no news from the club. I have still a year and we’ll see what decision the club takes.
“I hope to continue playing and staying here is an option. My attention is now focused on playing and being able to enjoy playing football after a season that had a lot of injury problems.
“I am very happy here. The club has treated me very well. I am at a great club and I am playing minutes, which is what I want. If I wasn’t playing, then I’d consider leaving, but now I’m playing in a big club.”
Tell me a 2 years extension is a no brainer.
sign ‘el tingo’!
Brilliant lol
it’s a no brainer
…no?
Oh for the love of God, just give the man what he wants please!
I fear that Wenger will let him go and try to shoehorn Ramsey into that position.
Now is the time to cash in on Ramsey. With our wealth of midfield talent, he’s not terribly important.
Would rather keep both tbh
Why the fuck did we let him get into the last year of his contract?!
Seriously
he was injured last season and he is 31 thats why we havent rush on his contract .he has to prove first he can comeback to his best ,i m sure the talk will start soon
3 yr followed by rolling 1 yr till he retired.
I have a nightmare that Juve will bid for Kos and Cazorla (especially Cazorla). In Serie A terms these guys are spring chickens and Barzagli wont be around forever
Kosc won’t leave. He owes Wenger his career, he knows that and he’s a loyal guy. He will end his career with us. I’m pretty sure about that. I would love if Santi does the same but as he said in this interview, he wants to play and on the wrong side of the 30 now, i think he will get less game time from year to year, especially considering the competition in that position, and I’m not sure that he would fancy that. If he does, he would be wonderfull to have around for a few more years.
I can think of a fair few boys who owe Wenger their career but don’t play for us anymore.
Koscielny is 31 though, and he will be 32 by the start of next season.
If he wanted to leave he could have left earlier, and it wasn’t because of lack of options. He himself has admitted that he has rejected offers from bigger clubs.
What “bigger” clubs? No such thing. Arsenal are the greatest
Still 2-3 years at his best at least. No way we should let him go.
If you arsenal fan there’s no such thing as bigger club
Players owe themselves their career. They put down all the hard work and make their own career. if Wenger honestly thought he had better options then ofcourse he would go for that, it is after all not a charity he is running.
That Koscielny or anyone else plays at Arsenal is not down to anyone else but himself and his quality that made the club go Yes, We will run with this guy, he is gonna be effing good.
If there wouldn’t have been a Wenger who gave him the chance when he was playing in the second French devision, im pretty sure he wouldn’t have been the number 1 centre back at their home Euros this summer. Of course he had the career he had because of his quality first and foremost but everybody needs to be given a chance at a certain point and it’s no question that Kosc’s chance was given to him by Arsene.
That’s why I threw a ”and he’s a loyal guy” in there. The guys you’re talking about obviously weren’t.
Never say never and Juve is Juve.
Hope they both stay though
And Wenger wont be manager forever
Incredible that he’s entered into his last season on this contract. One can only imagine he would have had one last year but for his injury and age as sometimes older players can be impacted more greatly but such bad injuries. He’s shown he’s back to his best so at least another two years place, although given his playing style I reckon he can go for another four as he’s never been the quickest, his brain and fleet footedness sets him above anyone else in that deeper role. I love him and his little round face x
Interestingly he signed contract extensions in both 2014 and 2015. The weird thing is both of them were reported as being until 2017…we’re trying to find out more details.
Personally feel that Santi is our club talisman who clearly enjoys his football. Fingers crossed he’ll be offered a 2 year extension instead of the usual one year for over 30s when the time comes. He deserves it after his loyal service to The Arsenal, esp the first goal in FA Cup 2014. That free kick was a thing of beauty!
https://youtu.be/klG9UKoJvpo
PS. Never stop smiling, Santi!
Absolutely right. I think Santi is my favourite Gooner of the latter Wenger years. Crucial player and consistent as fuck. So much character. So much heart. So much skill. I hope he retires at Arsenal.
Why leaving? Whatever he does, however he plays, fans love him!
Sign him up! Then build a Santi statue out front of the Emirates…with a push button that plays his song.
Ummm not really sure what’s happening with these player contracts. It’s crazy how soo many are in the final or 2nd last year of their contracts
It might be due to the uncertainty surrounding Wenger. A lot of players might be waiting to see if he extends his contract before they commit to a new deal.
Although I am pretty sure even if a new manager did come in, Santi when fit would still be one of the first names on the team sheet. I would love him to finish his career with us. He is a joy to watch and is always smiling.
But Santi is saying he hasn’t been offered a new contract. I can understand Santi stalling because of the uncertainty regarding Wenger, but that wouldn’t explain why the club wouldn’t open talks.
The free-kick goal against Hull though, dont leave!!
I don’t understand how we’ve even let him get to the stage where he might be thinking about leaving, unless we think Ramsey can take up his role. Personally I think we should give him another 2 years. He is so awesome.
Probably his injury last year delayed things. Waiting to make sure he came back at full power. Pretty obviously the answer is “yes” though, so hopefully the club get the chequebook out sooner rather than later.
If Wenger kept Rosicky for so long with all his injury problems I cannot see why not giving Santi an extension; he is important to us
He should spend the rest of his career with us, no?
yes
give the man a contract damn it!!
we want him to retire at the Arsenal!
Very strange, this one. Possibly our most popular, talented and consistent players. A no brainier.
The silence from Wenger is deafening.
Like everyone else I’m of the opinion he should get a 2 year extension now. But it’s not that surprising that the club have waited this long, given his age and his serious injury last year, and all the younger players we now have who play in the same position. They had to make sure that he could come back to his best this season. He’s proven that he has, so the two year extension should be forthcoming. It would be crazy to let him go for free at the end of the season.
I think the issue here is actually to do with Wilshere. They are both very similar players though Santi is much more two-footed.
As much as I would love him to stay I can’t see a future beyond next season where he plays 25+ games as a starter.
Doesnt bear thinking about that he wouldnt be offered a new contract . Such a fantastic player and criminally underated . Was plain to see how we missed him during his injury last year .
If the club come up with that 1 yr extension crap for over 30’s I will personally take the case to parliament!..2yrs minimum I still believe Santi is irreplaceable at the moment and if we find anyone with the same skill set they would cost millions..good Lord even Bolasie and Benteke cost almost £30m each!!
we refused to we refused to budge with Sagna and ended up with Debuchy!!..let’s hope we’ve learnt our lesson’
Offer the contract already Arsenal. Come on!
“I do not want to focus on things that are not real”
“CAZORLA IN MASSIVE DEAL WITH REAL”
The Sun
“NOTHING BUT REAL WILL DO – Santi Cazorla”
Daily Mail
“CAZORLA – REAL OR BUST”
The Star
“CAZORLA SNUBS WENGER FOR REAL
Owen – I’m ready to give him a heads up on life as a Galactico”
BT Sports
we lost the title last season when Santi got injured. A huge claim but I stand by it. His contract situation needs to be looked into as soon as possible.
I’m with you on this one. We lost the league when he got injured.
No, we lost the title because our finishing was poor.
GIVE HIM A NEW CONTRACT GODAMIT
Our best player. Hands down.
Heard that few senior players are holding the contract talk until the Wenger situation is clarified. But they will definitely sign
You “heard” that? From the twiterwebs?
Given that he seems to be a first-on-the-teamsheet type player for the boss, you’d think a new contract would be on the cards. He strikes me as one of those footballers who can play to a high level to the age of 35 like Bergkamp, due to the nature of his talent and way of playing and general football intelligence
98% passing completion of 104 passes made against Burnley. The player at the heart of things that makes us tick. And some players wanted to replace him with Granit so they could include Coquelin as well. One of Wenger’s best buys in market. Again those who bemoan Wenger’s market prowess should do well to remember there were at least 6 other clubs in Europe who could pay over our bid price for the man from Malaga and who may have likely similar need for him. How did we beat them to his signature? How did we take Granit in early?… Read more »
If there’s one subject that ALL GOONERS should agree about it’s Santi.
He must be given a new 2 year contract, at the minimum. His skill, mobility and passing accuracy lie at the very heart of Gunner’s best performances.
Spain has produced some of the best world class midfield players this last 20 years and managed to dominate world football thanks to them. For me there are the two untouchables in Iniesta and Xavi, seconded only by Silva and our own Santi. Not to make sure he retires at Arsenal will be criminal. Cause the big guns will come for him for sure ; and people who talk about Wilshere and /or Ramsey for his role are either deluded or don’t want to face the facts. With Santi we are talking proven world class, euro and world cup winning,… Read more »
I’d like to know the readers’ opinions on this. Let’s say he leaves, what do you think the club will do to replace him? Promote Elneny? Play Ramsey deeper? Bring Wilshere back into the fold (dependent on fitness)? A new signing or a change of system perhaps?