Santi Cazorla was a firm fans’ favourite at Arsenal. The Spaniard spent six seasons in north London and was a popular member of Arsene Wenger’s side, particularly with the supporters.
Cazorla won the FA Cup twice during his spell with the Gunners and was named the club’s player of the season in his first year with the Gunners in 2012/13.
Injuries hurt him late on during his time in north London, with Cazorla expressing after leaving: “It hurts me not to be able to say goodbye to a stadium that made me fall in love.”
The Spaniard has been well respected wherever he has been and he is still playing, and performing at the highest level, at the age of 40!
Cazorla made headlines on Wednesday night when scoring a stunning free-kick for his boyhood club Real Oviedo. The goal sent them into the La Liga promotion play-off final.
Oviedo finished the regular Segunda Division season in third place, meaning they went into a play-off with the teams in fourth, fifth and sixth.
And after beating Almeria 2-1 in the first leg of their semi-final, with the visitors 1-0 up in the return leg, Cazorla stepped up to fire a free-kick through the wall and into the bottom corner early on in the second half to level the match and win it 3-2 on aggregate.
You can watch the goal here:
Oviedo will play either Mirandes or Racing Santander in the final over two legs on June 15 and June 21.
Cazorla is playing for his boyhood club for pittance having initially asked if he could play for them for free when he made the move in 2023.
“I would play for free but you’re not allowed,” he told the Guardian’s Sid Lowe. “I called my agent: ‘I don’t want any money.’ I told the president: minimum salary, 10% of shirt sales to the academy. It was done that night.”
