Cazorla linked to Gunners, face competition from Spurs.

Arsenal have been linked to Malaga’s Santi Cazorla in the Spanish press this morning. The player only joined Malaga last summer from Villarreal, but the team that spent so highly last summer thanks to the wealth of their owners have now run into hard times financially and need to sell players.

Arsene Wenger is a long-term admirer of Cazorla and was believed to be interested last summer, but Malaga swooped in quickly to get their man. Given his availability this summer, you’d think if his interest was genuine, that he wouldn’t let him slip away from his grasp twice. Arsenal’s North London neighbours Tottenham are also being linked to Cazorla, so it might be a battle between Arsenal and Spurs for his services.

Cazorla is a winger and with Theo Walcott yet to commit his future to the club, Cazorla would be a good addition to the squad. Andrei Arshavin’s future is also in doubt too, so the move would definitely make some sort of sense. He hasn’t won much at club level, just the Intertoto Cup in 2004 with Villarreal, but he won the personal honour of Spanish player of the year in 2007, before being involved in the 2008 European Championship winning Spanish side. He was also in the 2012 Spanish squad that won the tournament.