Santi Cazorla, a beloved former Arsenal player, experienced the peak of his career during his time with the Gunners from 2012 to 2018. The Spanish midfielder was a magician on the pitch, consistently delivering stellar performances and captivating the Emirates Stadium with his skills.
However, his Arsenal journey took a challenging turn between 2016 and 2018 when he endured a severe long-term injury, a setback that could have led him to retire from professional football. Undeterred, Cazorla displayed remarkable resilience and determination, ultimately making a triumphant return to the game.
Despite his contract with Arsenal expiring during his injury recovery, Cazorla’s connection with the club remained strong. He revealed that Arsene Wenger, the former Arsenal manager, extended his contract even when there was no certainty about his return to the pitch. This gesture demonstrated Wenger’s faith and support for the Spanish midfielder during a difficult period.
He told DAZN:
“And just with the injury, I had doubts about whether the club wanted to renew me or not. But one day before travelling to have surgery in Sweden, Arsene called me into his office, without me knowing anything and told me: ‘Sign the contract for one more year. Go calmly to your operation, with a clear head, knowing you have one more year at Arsenal’.”
“This is a detail of how he is as a person and one that I will always be grateful to him for. And I will remember him with a lot of love.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Cazorla is one of our favourite idols and this story shows why most players were ready to give all they had to ensure they won a game for Wenger.
The gaffer knew he would be worried about his contract situation and extended his deal to calm his nerves and go through surgery with confidence.
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That sums up Arsene Wenger in a nutshell regarding his players and how he is as a person.
One of a kind in the world of football – what a class act.
A very kind gesture by Arsene. just the type Elneny was handed, For those wondering why Elneny was handed an extended contract.
Personally VAMOS, I alway far prefer a ruthless manager, like MA, to a “kind” one, as a ruthless manager ALWAYS and without exception, puts theTEAMS success above being “kind” to lesser players, such as Elneny.
I have no doubt AW was a very kind man .
Unfortunately, in his latter decade he forgot how to be ruthless, at huge cost to him, our club and we fans. Reality!
However even ruthless managers like MA can and do, at times, make mistakes . Such as when MA awarded Elneny a puzzling and foolish new contract.
Elneny is a great backup player,quick first touch and doesn’t ponder on the ball.
Wenger did a massive amount for this club built some great teams and a stadium which cost us in financial backing and since Kronke son has taken over along with Arteta plenty of money has been upcoming to buy some gifted players.
Cathola was an icon and I agree being awarded a 1 year extension was minimal cost to the club and agree Wenger was one of our greatest managers who built an undefeated team….respect 🤫
True gooner, A”great” back up player? You plainly have no idea what “great” actually MEANS in the English language.
Bu no rational mind can severely limited Elneny ever be called “great”.
That is a prepostereous misuse of language and opens that ludicrous comment to deserved mockery!
Jon Fox I think it would have been really cruel to just let Elneny out in the cold. He was in the middle of injury rehabilitation and no club would have signed him. For a player on reportedly low wages,it was the compassionate thing to do. What the club did wasn’t without precedence;clearly it had been done with Cazorla.
Elneny is like the 25th man in a 25 man squad and the 25th man in any squad in the world never really plays. Still,it’s not like Elneny was doing nothing. He still had obligations like turning up for community events and making sponsorship related appearances;just like the injured Timber has been doing. On top of that,he was still an experienced member of the squad who could offer guidance to our younger players.Whatever the club did for Elneny isn’t foolish in my opinion-it showed class.
We let people go during the pandemic who would have been on far lower wages, and elneny’s place in the squad could easily go to someone else who at least has the ambition to play in the first team at some point. It’s spun into something nice, but really it’s at the expense of someone else.
If we want elneny to be a coach, hire him as a coach – why persist with him as a squad player when he only comes on to see out games we’re winning comfortably.
Davi interestingly you didn’t mention the injury he had,which I think was the main reason behind his contract renewal just like it was the case with Cazorla as highlighted in this article;I don’t think coaching was the determining factor. While I didn’t support Arsenal letting people go during the pandemic,you can’t really compare that period which was full of uncertainty and financial losses to 2023 when Elneny signed a new contract- football was back to normal and I assume the club was in a much better financial position.
I mention the coaching primarily because of your saying he could offer guidance to the younger players, but I do think it was raised as a factor behind the new contract at the time.
A person being injured is no basis for a new contract, quite the opposite really, but even as an act of kindness, it’s completely unnecessary when we’re talking about a millionaire (his “low” wages really aren’t low on the grand scheme of things). I just think there’s a strange amount of empathy for these wealthy footballers, when they really don’t need it – we’re playing him, I expect, over a million a year to make him feel part of the squad and maybe pass on a bit of advice? It really makes no sense.
Reportedly £2.6m for the year.
“Cruel”? Good grief, Mr Woke!
We are NOT running a charity for alreadty financially rich but severely limited footballers welfare .
But we ARE trying to win the PREM AND YOU DONT WIN THE PREM BY PANDERING TO THE EMOTIONAL WELFARE OF SUCH PLAYING LEVEL DROSS AS ELNENY!
REALITY!
Arteta did same for chief benchwarmer Elneny as well
So it seems that MA is the same type of manager as AW was.
After all, if one’s comparing Santi to Elneny then we need a REAL ruthless manager and MA, y giving Elneny his contract, has cost the club and us fans hugely. Reality.
Of course, all managers make mistakes, but I don’t think either player see it that way… and THAT’S what makes The Arsenal such a respected club by players and fans alike.
I guess that’s why Santi is so keen to come back and why MO loves the club so much.
Merci Arsene and Mikel.
The legendary Frenchman is certainly a gentleman in his own right, I prefer characters like Wenger in real life.
He once claimed the football club is like an iceberg, that you only see a little part of it which is the team, beneath is the huge contribution it gives to the community.
Great gestures are hard to find in this day and age thank good for a few like AW, Elneny’s year long contract was more shrewdness then kindness as we hade injury problem in the middle of the park and Elneny was insurance,
Talking about Gentlemanly conduct I never forget what Robbie Fowler did manny years ago when he displayed great honesty playing against Arsenal,
One of the many reasons to do sports is to hone sportsmanship in us. To be fair to others even when you are competing with them. And one of the greatest display of sportsmanship in football was when Robbie Fowler refused a penalty for Liverpool. When many players would do anything just to win the game, Fowler gave us an example of sportsmanship.
Greatness is never forgotten
Not to forget that Robbie had just witnessed Bergkamp booked for diving at the other end. He did however miss the penalty, so kudos to him.
Great thread about Elneny.