To say Santi Cazorla has lit up the Premiership since his arrival at the Emirates in summer 2012 is about as grand an understatement as they come. A player of flawless technique, sublime skill and brilliant vision, the Spaniard has slotted neatly in at the Emirates and coach Arsene Wenger's longstanding vision of a dynamic, fast-passing Arsenal, winning all kinds of plaudits for his displays in the North London club's midfield.
A £16 million signing from Malaga, there's no doubting his impact at the Emirates so far. With nine league goals by February, Cazorla has more precision and power in front of goal than many league forwards, while Arsenal owe a number of wins to man of the match performances from the playmaker - notably a 5-2 win over derby rivals Spurs in November 2012, scoring once and assisting team mate Olivier Giroud in another. Averaging an 87% passing accuracy per game, there are few players as influential and brilliant in the English game today as the Spanish international.
"It’s a pleasure for anyone to get to play with a player like Santi," says team mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. "You can give him the ball in tight situations and you can trust him to get out of them and create things."
Arsene Wenger is equally effusive in his praise of the midfielder, noting that when he first arrived at the club, he was so good with each foot no one knew whether he was left or right footed. “He is right-footed but when you watch him play you don’t know. Glenn Hoddle was like that. And Cazorla is, on that front, similar. I don’t remember anyone else I have worked with who was as two-footed.”
Arsenal fans will be hoping he can keep up his incredible form and usher in a new era at the Emirates - one full of the silverware that has proved so elusive in recent years at the North London ground.