“I was really looking forward to going back,” Santi Cazorla tells The Athletic.
The 40-year-old midfielder was referring to being at the Emirates for Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Ipswich Town last month, his first return to the stadium since leaving in 2018 after scoring 29 goals and providing 44 assists over five seasons with the north London club.
In the seven years since — spent at Villarreal, Al Sadd in Qatar and, for the past two campaigns, back at his boyhood club Real Oviedo in the Spanish second division — Cazorla had kept in close touch with his former team-mate and now Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
“I’d spoken with Arteta various times but for circumstances and calendars, I’d not seen Arsenal play,” says Cazorla, whose name was sung by Arsenal fans as he sat at the Emirates with his wife Ursula and 10-year-old son Enzo. “I’m eternally grateful to Arsenal for the love they show me all the time. Every time I go down the street, Arsenal fans stop me and thank me for what I did for that club.”
Cazorla told The Athletic previously about his sadness at having to leave Arsenal, following eight different operations on an Achilles injury first suffered in October 2016. There were also happier times, including winning the FA Cup in 2014 and 2015 and two…
