When it comes to transfer market tactics Arsène Wenger has become quite skilled at biding his time to pounce on established, highly technical La Liga players who suddenly find themselves on the open market.
For each of the last three summers the Arsenal manager has recruited in this way. Picking up Alexis Sánchez from Barcelona during the 2014 World Cup, and Mesut Özil from Real Madrid in 2013, proved transformative. Before that, during the summer of 2012, Wenger took advantage of Málaga’s financial crisis to welcome Santi Cazorla, a little bundle of bewitching footwork whose arrival, in its own way, was just as much of a masterstroke.
Cazorla was Wenger’s choice as Arsenal’s outstanding performer last season. “From start to finish he was absolutely top,” said the manager. It was more the capacity to make the players around him look better rather than the virtuoso moments that really struck a chord with Wenger. Cazorla orchestrated with such intelligence from central midfield, while Francis Coquelin took care of the ball-winning alongside him, and the foundation for a big team improvement finally had its balanced base. Cazorla might have looked like a luxury player when he first arrived at Arsenal but he has evolved into a leader right at the hub of it all.
The characteristic that serves him so well is being comfortable with both feet. It was a quality that arrived by accident when an injury forced him to improvise. “I always preferred my right foot,” he says. “Ever since I was young that was my preferred foot. Once I was a little bit hurt in my right ankle and therefore I started to use my left foot a lot more.
“What I would do after training is stay half an hour and kick the ball against a wall with my weaker foot over and over again to make sure it gets stronger. And young players should remember that everything comes from the base of hard work, so never give up. Being able to use both feet was something that came quite naturally to me ever since I started playing. However, it’s something I work on all the time to make sure that level never gets any lower.”
Cazorla is 30 and speaks with a steely determination to keep pushing himself, as if he senses there are grander career highlights to experience. Arsenal’s two FA Cup wins are his only club honours. Although he has an admirable collection of 73 caps for Spain over a period when his country has won trophies, he was mostly a substitute for the triumphant European Championship in 2008 and 2012 and missed the World Cup in 2010 with a hernia injury.
He is already focused on striving for big things next season. “We finished the season very strong. We would obviously like to prepare ourselves a lot better for the upcoming season, for a better placement in the Champions League as well as the Premier League.
“I see we have a very strong team. What we need to work on is consistency and our mental toughness to get to the next level. We know we can do that. Yes, Chelsea is strong; yes, they won the Premier League, but without a doubt we have a team that is strong enough to do so. We just have to work on fine tuning.
“In Europe teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona have some of the best players in the world. It’s something we have to aspire to and try to position ourselves in that sense.”
Cazorla is not the only Arsenal player who is hoping another high-calibre signing or two will join to push them up another step in their quest for honours next season. He recalls the thrill when he heard that Özil and Sánchez were signing and wants that impetus again.
“I got very excited,” he says. “It’s extremely important to see how everyone gets excited because the more players of the calibre of Alexis and Mesut that join, the better I will become as a player and the better the team will become. Because of their style of play their games combine together, and the best thing for us is the team is stronger because of it.”
Cazorla was impressed to see Jack Wilshere expressing his talent for club and country. It puzzles him how unusual it is for English players to venture to foreign clubs. It has become quite routine for Spanish players to travel but their English counterparts are relative homebods. Wilshere has the quality to move to La Liga. “He is definitely someone who could play in Spain,” Cazorla says. “He’s very talented and a great player. We’re lucky to have him at Arsenal but if ever he decided to move forward in his career, definitely he has the level and the capability to be able to play in a Spanish team.
“It’s strange that we don’t see more English players going to the Spanish league. We’ve seen Beckham and Owen, for example, but besides that we don’t see as many as we would like to.”
Spanish clubs would appear more likely to try to tempt Cazorla back. There have been whispers of a return during his time at Arsenal but for now he has no itchy feet. He is happy for them to twinkle in England. “For the time being, Arsenal is my home. I’m not thinking about the future. I live day by day and right now Arsenal is my way. It’s my life.”
Santi Cazorla was speaking at #ForeverArsenal, the launch of the Puma 2015-2016 Arsenal home kit
