Apart from having to deal with a spate of injuries, it’s starting to feel like everything is going well for Arsenal this season.
Mikel Arteta’s side have almost perfected the art of set pieces, making them almost impossible to score and as a result sit at the top of the Premier League.
Additionally, while many of the offensive players still have a lot to offer, many of the players who fell short last year are starting to get back to their best.
That includes one of Arteta’s signings, who has even been compared to the iconic Santi Cazorla – no, that’s not Martin Zvimendi.
Santi Cazorla’s Arsenal career
Cazorla joined Arsenal from Spanish side Malaga for just £16 million in the summer of 2012 and it didn’t take long for him to make an impact at the club.
The mercurial midfielder produced a man-of-the-match performance in his debut for North London against Sunderland, and ended his first season with 12 goals and 14 assists in 49 games.
By the time he left the Gunners in August 2018, he had amassed an impressive 29 goals and 45 assists in just 180 appearances, but it was not his results but his style of play that made him such a firm fan favorite.
On good form, the 40-year-old magician looked like he could do it all, from playing outrageous balls from one end of the pitch to the other, to driving with the ball and beating opposing defenders with ease.
The sometimes two-footed magician was the embodiment of what Wenger wanted his team to be on the pitch, someone who could win games with incredible skill and entertain paying fans at the same time.
There are countless examples of the Spaniard achieving remarkable things in the famous red and white, but perhaps the most iconic and impactful was the free-kick in the 2014 FA Cup final that sparked the club’s resurgence.
There’s no telling what Cazorla could have achieved at Arsenal if he had stayed healthy. The club has not had a player like him since then, but there is someone in the current squad who has been compared to the Emirates icon.
Arsenal star compared to Cazorla
Now, the first player that comes to mind for many people here is Zvimendi. After all, he is a Spanish midfielder with great passing width and the ability to use both feet when necessary.
However, in this instance, the comparisons to the former Arsenal star are due to another former Gunners great, Kevin Campbell, which has Leandro Trossard concerned.
Yes, Campbell was full of praise for the Belgian when speaking in 2023, saying that although “they don’t play in the same place”, “he’s as fast as Santi, so you can compare him”.
He went on to compare the former Brighton & Hove Albion player to Santi, who also “picks things up quickly and Santi can pick things up quickly.”
Apart from wearing the number 19 shirt, another similarity the 30-year-old shares with the Spaniard is his incredible ability to use both feet without any problems.
This can be seen during matches, with Genk’s former coach once telling Sky Sports that the dynamic left winger is indeed “both right-footed and left-footed.”
Finally, although there are still many other differences between the two, another important commonality is the Maasmechelen-born talent’s ability to make things happen, generally by ending opportunities that most people would consider too difficult.
After all, that’s why Arteta called him a “little magician” and why Ian Wright boldly claimed he was the Gunners’ “best finisher”.
After all, Trossard is not the same player that Cazorla used to play for Arsenal, but he certainly has a lot in common with the Spaniard, from his two-footed ability to his technical level and ability to make things happen.
