Aside from the continuous number of injuries they’ve had to deal with, it’s starting to feel like everything is falling into place for Arsenal this season.
Mikel Arteta’s side have pretty much perfected the art of set-pieces, have become near enough impossible to score against, and as a result, are sitting atop the Premier League table.
Moreover, while there is still a level to go for many of the attacking players, many of those who underwhelmed last year are starting to look back to their best.
This includes one of Arteta’s signings, who has even been compared to the iconic Santi Cazorla – and no, it’s not Martin Zubimendi.
Santi Cazorla's Arsenal career
Cazorla joined Arsenal for a fee of just £16m from Spanish outfit Malaga in the summer of 2012, and it did not take him long at all to make an impact at the club.
The mercurial midfielder put in a man-of-the-match performance against Sunderland in what was his debut for the North Londoners, and ended up finishing that first campaign with a tally of 12 goals and 14 assists in 49 games.
By the time he left the Gunners in August 2018, he did so with an impressive haul of 29 goals and 45 assists in just 180 appearances, but it wasn’t the output that made him such a firm fan favourite, but the way in which he played the game.
When fit, the 40-year-old magician was seemingly able to do it all, from playing outrageous balls from one side of the pitch to the other, to driving with the ball and beating opposition defenders with ease.
At times, the two-footed wizard was the embodiment of what Wenger wanted his teams to do on the pitch, someone who was capable of winning games with some incredible skill, but doing so while also entertaining the paying fans.
There are really countless examples of the Spaniard doing something remarkable in the famous red and white, but perhaps the most iconic and impactful was his free-kick in the 2014 FA Cup final, which kick-started the club’s comeback.
Had he managed to keep fit, there is no telling what Cazorla could have accomplished at Arsenal, and while the club have not quite had a player like him since, there is someone in the current squad who has been compared to the Emirates icon.
The Arsenal star compared to Cazorla
Now, the first player many of you might think of here is Zubimendi. After all, he is a Spanish midfielder with a great range of passing and the ability to use both feet when needed.
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However, in this instance, the comparison to the former Arsenal star comes from another former Gunners’ great, Kevin Campbell, and concerns Leandro Trossard.
Yes, when speaking back in 2023, Campbell was full of praise for the Belgian, saying that while “they don’t play in the same spot”, he could “see the comparison because he has such quick feet like Santi did.”
He went on to compare the way in which the former Brighton & Hove Albion gem is also able to “see things quickly and Santi saw things quickly.”
Another similarity the 30-year-old shares with the Spaniard, aside from wearing the number 19, is his impressive ability to use both feet without much trouble at all.
You can see this during games, and then on top of that, his former coach at Genk once told Sky Sports that the dynamic left-winger is indeed “right-footed and left-footed.”
Finally, while there are still plenty of other differences between the pair, one more key point of overlap is the Maasmechelen-born gem’s ability to make something happen, generally by finishing a chance most would consider too difficult.
After all, that is why Arteta has referred to him as a “little magician” and Ian Wright made the bold claim that he’s the Gunners’ “best finisher.”
Ultimately, Trossard is not the same player Cazorla was at Arsenal, but from his two-footedness to his technical class and ability to make things happen, he certainly shares a great deal in common with the Spaniard.