Former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has confirmed he will rejoin his former club side Villarreal after recovering fully from Plantaris Injury.
The Spaniard is currently recovering from the long injury lay off from action after going through a total of eight operations on that and a long-standing ankle problem.
Carzola’s contract with the Gunners us due to expire at the end of this month after spending six seasons at the Emirates Stadium.
He joined the north London club in a deal valued at about £10 million from Malaga in 2012 and played well over 120 matches scoring 25 goals.
The Spanish midfielder won two FA Cups and two Community Shields during his reign at the Emirates Stadium before finally leaving the club this summer.
Cazorla was released by Arsenal at the end of the season, and will become a Villarreal player for the third time, meanwhile Villarreal have announced the deal by tweeting: “Today we have a very special thing to tell you because it is time to see someone very loved by the groguets… welcome back Santi Cazorla.”
The Spain international, who is currently training for fitness is hopeful of returning to action in 2019 and was recently in the Basque country visiting Mikel Sanchez, the surgeon who is overseeing his recovery.
He had been working with Alaves’ youngsters ahead of his move in some very light post-season sessions on the training pitch, as well as putting his ankle and Achilles under pressure in the weight room.
“I am grateful to Alaves for the facilities they have offered to me,’ Cazorla said in a video on the club’s YouTube channel.
“The facilities here are very good and they’re even doing work to improve them further.
“[The youth teams and I] have had a nice experience. I tried to make sure they enjoyed the experience.”
It was earlier reported that Santi Cazorla recently returned to training for the first time in 18 months Emirates Stadium since he suffered Achilles injury two years back.
The 33-year-old last featured for the Gunners since their 6-0 Champions League win over Ludogorets in 2016.
However, Arsenal’s head of performance Shad Forsythe was seen drilling the Spaniard before their Europa League semi final first leg clash against Atletico Madrid on Thursday evening.
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