By Tayo Amosu
August 12, 2014
Good news came the Arsenal way today when Santi Cazorla dismissed recent speculation linking him to the La Liga with Atletico Madrid planning a tempting offer to secure his services.
This is a major boost to the Arsenal side that won the FA Community Shield against Manchester City on Sunday.
The Spanish International who scored the opener during the hugely impressive Community Shield victory at Wembley was said to be a long-term target of Atletico Madrid manager, Diego Simeone and an audacious bid of about £20m was said to be in the offing.
Santiago Cazorla, who moved to the Emirates two seasons ago, was said to be struggling to settle into the English lifestyle and may be tempted away from London, if Atletico Madrid offer a bid that matches Arsenal’s valuation of him.
Cazorla, speaking to a Spanish radio, Cadena Cope in an interview and cited by talkSPORT, said: ‘‘I’ve seen that in the papers, but nobody has told me anything personally and the things I know are from the papers, so, I don’t know anything. I’m only focused on training here and preparing well playing with Arsenal. It’s paper talk. I’m well, I have the confidence of everybody, the support of the fans and we hope to have a good season’’.
The 29-year-old is a versatile, ambidextrous attacking midfielder, who can also play as a winger.
In the last two seasons for Arsenal, he has used his speed, shooting accuracy, excellent close control and his capacity to change the rhythm of game play, in securing wins for the club.
Of note in recent past, other than his first goal on Sunday, is his game-changing superb goal from a free-kick to bring the Gunners up from a 2-0 deficit, to win Hull City 3-2, in the 2014 FA Cup Final at Wembley.
Internationally, Cazorla represented Spain at Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, winning both tournaments.
He missed the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa due to injury sustained in the 2009/2010 season but was called-up by Spanish national team coach, Vincente Del Bosque for the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil, where they failed to make it through to the round of 16.
The pint-sized Arsenal midfielder has grown to be an integral force in the Arsenal set-up as he plays across the attacking midfield, from left to right and even centrally.
His place in the current Gunners squad is hardly threatened as his versatility comes to play a lot of time in hard knock games with boogie teams of the English Premiership.
The arrival of Alexis Sanchez, contrary to some speculations, would only make him more relevant in the team.
He doesn’t seem a player Arsene Wenger would want to do without in a hurry, though at 29. Just like Tomas Rosicky, who Wenger may not let go till he retires from football, Santi Cazorla is a dependable and exciting player to watch with impeccable skills used to manoeuvre and stroll through defences.
This would come to many Arsenal observers and fans as a confidence booster because the frequency of his likely departure news in the gossip and rumour sections of newspapers, tabloids and blogs was becoming pretty disturbing.
What Arsenal needs now, more than ever, is stability and continuity.
The concept of more additions and few or no departures ensures stability and stability ensures success.
