Is Santi coming to town?

Arsenal’s hunt for an Attacking Midfielder (AM) to fill the void left by the departure of one Cesc Fabregas has a new name thrown into the mix, Santiago (Santi) Cazorla. Most Arsenal fans will remember the name as it was the same Santi Cazorla that was on the verge of signing for Arsenal last summer before signing for newly rich Malaga instead. Losing out on Cazorla epitomised Arsenal’s poor transfer business last summer whereby the ‘Cesc’ saga resulted in not only Arsenal getting poor value for Fabregas but also missing out on signing Santi and left Arsenal with no established AMs heading into the season. But it seems like this summer; Arsene is determined to finally land his man.

Santi Cazorla in a nutshell is a natural winger who played entirely in midfield last term for Malaga. Extremely comfortable with both feet, his ability to glide across the midfield, use both short incisive passes and long balls to open up defences and test teams with long range shots has generated a lot of admirers across Europe with Sid Lowe describing Cazorla as the best Spanish player in La Liga not playing for either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Cazorla, a product of the youth setup at Real Oviedo  spent most of his professional career at Villarreal. Considered an integral part the Yellow Submarine’s squad he was reluctantly let go last summer in a bid to pay off debts that had riddle the club. The benefactors of this move were Malaga where he  enjoyed one of his best season as a professional (on a club level) and was instrumental in helping Malaga achieve CL football (qualifier spot).

Cazorla was one of Malaga’s most influential players, scoring 9 times and assisting another 5 more. He started every single league game for Malaga and ccording to WhoScored, he was the 4^th highest rated player in La Liga coming  behind and an impressive group you may have heard of, Messi, C. Ronaldo, and Xavi putting him in very high company.

His passing ability has been considered one of his key strengths. He’s an intelligent player who uses both short passes and long balls to unlock teams and he averages 2.2 key passes per game in La Liga ranking him 5th overall. Cazorla is not afraid to shoot either and of his 9 goals last season, 8 of them were scored from long distance while he averaged 2.3 shots per game. This is something that will likely please Arsenal fans considering our lack of shots and goals from the midfield last season.

Cazorla also has excellent versatility which was displayed alot last season where he played across the midfield featuring centrally as an AM as well as having spells on either side of midfield. It’s his versatility that has lead many to describe him as a ‘Barcelona-type’ player. A great example of Cazorla’s versatility that was on display for the world to see was on June of 2011 when Spain took on the U.S. in a friendly. Carzola in one game played in almost every single position in midfield notching two well-taken goals.

Santi’s ability to play on the wings has ensured that he racks up a high number of crosses as well. Someone who can cross well at Arsenal is necessary as we don’t have a lot of solid crossing options. His ability to cross will significantly add to our attack and could complement the inclusion of Giroud as our primary striker. Santi  possesses excellent dead skills and can finally give Arsenal that killer free kick threat that it has been lacking for the last several seasons.

Cazorla also does not shy away from defensive duties either and averaged 2.2 tackles per game last term. Having an AM in the Arsenal midfield making tackles would not only assist with the “up the field” marking that Arsene has started to instil in more recent squads but will also put less pressure on our deeper lying playmaker. Where he excels defensively however, is his ability to read the game. A player that epitomises the ‘thinking footballer’ he has a fantastic ability to snuff out passing lanes down the middle of the field and averaged 2.6 interceptions per game last season. His defensive abilities are so good that Malaga used him on a few occasions as DM (started 7 games as the DM). While he by no means should be considered an answer to our defensive struggles, his ability to win the ball back greatly adds to his overall stock.

Cazorla’s age also makes him an ideal signing at the AM position. Of the current possibilities to play in the free playmaker role; Rosicky will be out for the next two months, Aaron will be just returning from the Olympics, Jack won’t be back till October and the Ox is too inexperienced to play the role. What Arsenal is left with is a youthful group along with a grizzled veteran who should be relied upon to play a complete season. Cazorla however (like Giroud and Podolski) is at an age where he is entering his prime and at the same time won’t hold our young core of midfielders back.

Last term, it was evident that Arsenal sorely lacked an incisive and creative playmaker that could make the position his own. Aaron Ramsey (who was coming back from a serious injury) was in good form at the start of the season but by December looked like badly overrun.Rosicky on the other hand had a good second half to the season but it was evident that neither of these players could be relied upon to carry the team for an entire season. This only made the loss of Jack Wilshere more painfully obvious and clearly identified the need for a pure AM alarming. Arsenal only managed to retain 4^th spot through some excellent wing play, creativity from deeper playmakers in the midfield (which for the most part came at the cost of defensive duties) and the goal scoring streak of an ‘ambitious’ striker.

As such Cazorla would fit right into the AM position and finally give us a creative hub in midfield. A player who would be able to unlock defences at ease while also giving us a goal scoring threat. His versatility and intelligence makes him a typical Arsene player, one with the ability to dictate the tempo of a game. His addition also not likely hinder the progress of either Jack or Aaron, both of whom will have ample opportunities to regain form/fitness and grow into their respective roles.

With reports linking us with Cazorla I am quietly hopeful that the deal goes through. For those unaware, Malaga’s rich owners have decided to not pay tax bills, part of player’s wages and transfer fees owed to other teams. Arsenal it seems have taken advantage of the situation and have apparently agreed terms with player and are currently in the process of working out a transfer fee with Malaga. However do not rule out the possibility of Malaga’s owners clearing up all the owed amounts before July 31^st as they have done so in the past thus throwing a wrench into this transfer. As things stand however, it looks positive that Cazorla could very well be on his way to The Arsenal.

Many may not necessarily be thrilled with the prospect of signing Santi Cazorla as most don’t view him as a marquee signing. Some might have even been hoping for a player more in the vein of a Ganso or a Belhanda. In my opinion however, Arsenal fans should be pleased that we are linked to Cazorla as not only is he an exciting and highly versatile player but is also someone who will add tremendously to our creativity and greatly improve our attacking impetus. Also add to the fact that he is possibly available for a snip under £16 million makes for excellent business.

To me personally, Cazorla isn’t just a marquee signing, he is an imperative one.

Joel Pereira – @joel_pereira