Arsenal have played down a report in the Daily Express that Santi Cazorla could be ruled out until next April but admit the midfielder is not working towards a fixed return date at the moment.
The 32-year-old hasn’t featured for the Gunners since last September and revealed in May that he’s eight operations on his troublesome Achilles and wouldn’t be back until at least November.
Arsenal opted to trigger a clause in Cazorla’s contract that keeps him at the Emirates for a final year and a club representative, contacted by the Evening Standard, still believes the Spaniard will feature for the first team this season. That’s about all they had to say on what is a very sad state of affairs for all involved.
Cazorla signed for the Gunners from Malaga in 2012 for a fee in the region of £15 million. One of Arsene Wenger’s most creative players he’s gone on to score 29 goals and make 45 assists in 180 appearances for the club.
We keep our fingers crossed that Santi can make a full recovery soon, he’s been sorely missed.
Wishing you all the best Santi.
Can’t wait to see you on the pitch again.
I think the most we can expect from Cazorla in the next year or so is as a dressing room morale booster. There’s a reason we’re looking at midfielders this summer.
🙁
Read this in the morning. Hope it’s not true. Santi is regularly our best player on the day when fit.
Crazy he has missed so long. I can’t see him having a big effect this season, though I hope I’m proved wrong.
I have since learned to check my candour on the Santi situation. Nearly got mobbed with thumbdowns for suggestion in October that his career at the top might be over with a recurring Achilles at 32.
Damn you injury ?
Best player in the squad and the best person in the squad. Santi and Mertesacker deserve a testimonial. I just love Santi, BFG and Arteta.
You prefer the players that don’t actually play much?
I prefer we sign M’bappe and Lacazette on record deals and they come into training and watch Santi and realize they are not worth their price tag.
That will demotivate them! Fortunately won’t happen according to reports.
Unfortunately for us fans who love him.
Or motivate them
No offence but this is why I changed my name to Original (ie first) Paul
No-one has ever thumbed you down.
I guess everyone has a fantasy.
No he just prefers players who are fantastic role models both on & off the pitch. Maybe you should try that sometime….
I prefer people with a sense of humour.
Try exhibiting one first.
Hahahaha. I saw the flood of thumbdowns coming. How dare you try to lift our mood, they seemed to say.
Hard to see him playing for us again. Probably the player we’ve most missed over the last 2 seasons, we must look for a quality replacement NOW
Santi is done. It’s tough to think about but really Wenger should have been working on a replacement for a long time. Anybody fancy Goretzka?
Sad to say it but I think I agree. Classy to extend his contract and a great player to have around, no doubt. But given his injury and age we should be looking for a replacement.
Keita looks to have all the skill in the world. I also like Ruben Neves as a defensive midfielder, and I can’t quite believe that Wolves are in for him. Could be the bargain if the transfer window.
Never is a client of Jorge Mendes who also, by sheer coincidence I’m sure, advises the Chinese Phosun Group who happen to own, er, Wolves.
Interesting. I’m not surprised to hear that Mendes might be involved in what appear to be dodgy deals.
goretzka would be an upgrade on ramsey..damn the only player i have seen with santi’s level ambidextrosity has to be ousmana dembele !!!!
No Leon Goretzka isn’t as ambidextrous as Santi. And he isn’t better than Ramsey, at least not yet. He’s a very promising player with the potential to become world class. In short, if we buy him he won’t just walk into the starting lineup.
Or Cesc circa 2010
Surely Charles Aranguiz is worth a punt? I really don’t know but I doubt he’d be too expensive, not by today’s standards anyway.
To me, Goretzka rather represents an upgrade (?) on Ramsey as a player who may be asked to fill a box-to-box midfielder’s shoes.
If we’re speaking about a player with Santi’s skill for dribbling out of trouble, orchestrating (counter-)attacks and generally make the teamplay more fluid, I would favor Seri from Nice.
Seri looks a useful player but he’s nowhere near Santi in terms of dribbling and technical ability.
I don’t know about “nowhere near,” though obviously he hasn’t proven himself to be at Santi’s level yet (I happen to think Santi is one of the most underrated players in world football of recent years). The worry I have about Seri is whether he’s physically/defensively robust enough to partner Xhaka in midfield. Xhaka’s obviously strong and better defensively then some Arsenal fans give him credit for, but he’s really not very quick or mobile, so he needs someone with mobility and aggression next to him. Seri isn’t just small (Kante is small, after all), but he also doesn’t look… Read more »
i agree. serri of nice and kieta of rb leipzeig are on the verge of being worldclass .they probably will reach the pogbas level very soon keita is a miss for arsenal , we bid for him last season only to be rejected because he wanted to try bundesliga before moving on to much competitive premier league , abd what a season he had. goretzka and pablo fornals of malaga are also worth a punt. but probably will not match the class of 2 players above.
Goretzka is probably Bayern bound (for free next season). I’m keen on seeing where Arsene see’s Jeff’s future. Is it in the box to box role or as a player further fwd. We’ve also got Maitland Niles coming through nicely. Plus Ox, Wilshere are options if Ramsey, Elneny, Xhaka, Coquelin are unavailable. In short gut feeling says Wenger will go for an internal solution on this one…
I pray to heaven that The Jeff isn’t converted into a no.8. It’s Diaby all over again; a no.10 being forced to play as a no.8.
Kinda like Ramsey.
Whats the deal with William Carvalho? Said to be the new Vieira? We were linked with him endlessly for years. Maybe like Laca, time to re explore?
Yeah, I like Carvalho a lot, but looks like Wenger has decided he’s not for us, as he’s had more than ample time to pursue him and hasn’t really for several windows (I think the reports from Portugal about us being interested aren’t remotely reputable).
Weren’t there agent issues with him?
Sounds like Lacazette.
I don’t know why folks are thumbing down a perfectly sensible “gut feeling”. I also think this is very likely to happen, based on the way we know Wenger operates in the transfer market. Now, whether this would be a good move is another story. It really just depends on whether the Jeff or AMN are ready to step up this year, Bellerin/Iwobi style. Every few years, it looks like we’re short in one particular area of the squad (well, this happens every year, but some of those years Wenger pulls off the “internal solution”) only for it to become… Read more »
Poor, poor Santi, this must be terrible for him. We will need to plan for a season without his magic, but he’s still in our hearts and the day he returns will be a day to celebrate no?
Unlike certain team members santi is not only very talented but also very likeable, shame the injury is robbing us of his talents!!!
8 surgeries? Is Dr. Krieger in our staff?
hahaha! good one.
but if he were, our injury problems would be non-existent. he’d have replace Santi’s legs with bionics
So so sorely missed. I love that guy.
Absolute bargain at £15m as well considering what some clubs buy players for. Hopefully he gets better and hits a run of form for us
Here’s hoping the Wizard of Oz can work some magic on Santi? Too early to call him that?..
seri maybe the only living player to replace cazorla
Santi was always amazing, but I don’t think I truly appreciated his immense importance to the squad until his injury
Really want to see him back on the pitch
Saw a photo of him on crutches the other day and it made me quite sad.
Last three seasons have sent Santi down the same path the Little Mozart went. Hope he recovers and gives us a couple of months with his mastery in the midfield. May be the new addition to the fitness coaches might help
Bah, unlucky fella.
I miss this little wizard. 🙁
I’ll still have him around the squad even with his injuries, purely because of the gem of a person he is.Any Arsenal player, in any interview, admit he’s the player they respect and admire the most.And what wouldn’t I give to see his infectious smile again in and around the Emirates. While his return from injury is highly shrouded in mystery, he can carry on playing for years.His technique, dribbling , passingand ambidextrous nature won’t desert him as he gets on in age.As a player who doesn’t depend much on his pace, I still think he can play a bit-part… Read more »
I hope we sign his son. 5 or 6 years old and already capable of nutmegging john terry.
So young and yet instinctively know she how to put balls through c*nts.
Where is Jon Toral?
Should be back at the club. Hopefully will make the preseason tour squad, and get a chance to make a final case for being in AW’s first team plans for the future. Whether he takes it or not is another story. I think he’s got quality (was very unlucky with injuries when he first moved to Arsenal), but it looks a long shot for him at Arsenal. A permanent move to a smaller club in England or Spain where the management really believe in him will probably be best for his career.
Personally prefer seeing lads like Toral, Chuba being given the chance to step up to the plate (millions already invested being allowed to bear fruition) & seize their last chance than millions spent on newer acquisitions. Interesting dynamics at play going into the next season indeed.
Want him back asap
I hope the Emirates sings his song in support of him at the start of the season. The squad started going to sh*ts after he got injured. Rest well Santi, we are with you always! #COYG
When he gets injured we go to shit. He’s a remarkable player and central to the way Wenger wants us to play. Really hoping he can get fit and stay fit…
Gosh I miss him.
Feel for Cazorla. He’s a top class player and a top class professional.
Proud of the club for extending his contract to let him recover when they surely knew to problem would last most of next season too.
Let’s hope he gets back so we can give him a proper send off.
There is no justice, be it poetic or otherwise, when something like this happens to such a good man. Get well Santi.
Which is why we need to add in midfield. Which was the biggest problem last summer. We failed to address midfield sufficiently. Granit replicated Santi’s passing vision but we have no one who can retain the ball with the sort of technicality Santi can. Jack comes closest but we know his sentiment and he is injury prone. I said last summer that we should not be reliant on Santi to stay fit from now on bc of age and nature of injury. Granit-Coquelin-Ramsey are frankly the only midfield options right now. Injury to one and we are very thin. Elneny… Read more »
He can’t be relied upon anymore sadly. This situation should have been sorted last summer.
Santi is a wizard above wizards with the ball. He came to Arsenal as a winger and not that well known. It was obvious from the start we had found someone special he was all over the pitch tackling crossing scoring and soon became the man in the middle pulling the strings. I was worried when we changed his role to a defensive one but I like others were proven wrong. What he did so well was to leave 2 or 3 opposition players on their backsides deep in our half as he emerged with ball still glued to his… Read more »
Seems like a similar final season to the one Rosicky had before leaving, may be on the cards again. Santi may well have been the difference last year between the Champions League spot or the Europa league booby prize.
Obviously would love him back on the pitch but it must be awful for him personally to have to keep having (apparently unsuccessful) surgeries. Hope he heals soon.
£15 million. Times have changed.
It is insane that he hasn’t gone to the US and got this fixed.
Go see Dr James Andrews who is the best doctor for athletes in the world. Whatever he says do. You’re 32.
Arsenal and Santi have fucked this up and cost him the last year’s of his prime
A great player for Arsenal, hope he returns in full fitness
Does anyone know if Arsenal have bought insurance which means that we are less financially hamstrung by player injuries?
If we don’t have any insurance then isn’t our roster of injured players quite financially irresponsible?