2012 Summer Signings – Santi Cazorla (Malaga – Rumoured fee £12m-£16m)

Arsenal’s final signing of the 2012 summer transfer window was probably the best one made by the club in a while.

Santi Cazorla signed for Malaga in the summer of 2011 from Villarreal, but due to Malaga’s financial problems, he was available at the right price. Rumours in the British and Spanish media suggested that Arsene Wenger was willing to break his transfer record of £15m (Andrei Arshavin) to bring Cazorla to the Emirates for around £16m.

After a lot of speculation, Cazorla finally signed for the club in August 2012. Reports now suggest that Wenger got Cazorla for a little less than expected at about £12m. Malaga wouldn’t have sold him in normal circumstances, especially having paid a lot of money for him just a year before, but that extravagant spending was the reason for his departure, they had no money.

Cazorla made an appearance in the final pre-season game away to FC Cologne, impressing highly as all three new signings looked to have settled in well.

He continued to impress as the Premier League season kicked off at home to Sunderland. The Spaniard put in a Man of the Match performance as the Gunners drew 0-0 on the opening day.

His first goal for Arsenal came in his third game for the club away to Liverpool. Having provided an assist for Lukas Podolski earlier in the game, Cazorla scored Arsenal’s second to secure the club’s first win of the season.

His next goal came in a 3-1 win at West Ham at the start of October, a stunning finish that won Arsenal’s Goal of the Month award for October.

Cazorla continued to impress as the season went on and scored another fine goal, this time a consolation goal in stoppage time as Arsenal lost 2-1 at Old Trafford to Manchester United at the beginning of November. The goal counted for nothing, but it was still a great finish.

His next goal would be much more important, putting the Gunners 4-1 up against Tottenham in the North London Derby. The game finished 5-2 as the Gunners matched the scoreline from the corresponding fixture the season before.

A lot of good things had been said about Cazorla from many experts in the media. In December, Cazorla was involved in a moment of controversy when he won a penalty for seemingly being tripped by Steven Reid. Reid protested to the referee that Cazorla dived, but the penalty was given and scored by Mikel Arteta. Cazorla claimed there was contact from Reid and he then lost his balance.

A few days later, Cazorla started his first game in a domestic cup for the club as Arsenal travelled to Bradford for a League Cup quarter-final. Cazorla provided an assist for Thomas Vermaelen’s late equaliser as the Gunners forced extra-time. In extra-time, Cazorla hit the bar as the Gunners looked to prevent penalties by winning it in extra-time, just like they did in the previous round at Reading. In the end, the game did go to penalties and Cazorla missed Arsenal’s first penalty in the shootout. Bradford won 3-2 in a humiliating defeat for the Gunners.

Six days later, Arsenal faced struggling Reading in the Premier League. Santi helped the club back to winning ways with a superb hat-trick in a 5-2 win at the Madejski Stadium. In doing so, he became only the third Spaniard to score a hat-trick in Premier League history, following in the footsteps of Fernando Torres and Jordi Gomez.

As 2013 began, Cazorla remained a key player in the first-team, featuring in all of the club’s Premier League games in January as well as starting in both games against Swansea in the FA Cup third round. He found the net once in January, scoring in the comfortable 5-1 win at home to West Ham.

His next goal came in February as he scored the only goal of the game in a tightly contested game away to Sunderland. After defeats to Blackburn and Bayern Munich in cup competitions during February, Cazorla helped the team back to winning ways by scoring both goals in a 2-1 win at home to Aston Villa near the end of the month.

Santi Cazorla celebrates scoring in a 1-0 win at Sunderland back in February. Pic: The Telegraph.

Santi played every minute of the club’s fixtures in March and won Man of the Match for his performance in the team’s 2-0 win away to Swansea. He ended the month well by scoring in a 4-1 win at home to Reading.

As Arsenal chased down local rivals Tottenham for that final Champions League place, Santi continued his fine form. In May, he provided all four assists and delivered a Man of the Match display in a 4-1 win against Wigan. That win kept Arsenal in 4th place going into the final game of the season and sent Wigan down.

Cazorla played in every single Premier League game for the club this season. There are always question marks about players coming in from Spain to the Premier League as to whether they can adapt or not. It’s a very different culture and much warmer in Spain too and you have seen players come into the Premier League with huge reputations in Spain, but haven’t been able to settle here. Arsenal’s best example would be Jose Antonio Reyes, who was a great player, but was homesick in England and pushed for a move home. Fernando Morientes was a fine striker across Europe, but when he came to Liverpool, he never really got going there.

But when you see a player like Cazorla come in and just settle in so quickly, it’s great to see. The same can be said of Juan Mata at Chelsea, an absolute gem of a player (and yes, I’m still gutted we didn’t sign him). It certainly helped Santi that he had players around him that could speak his language, such as Mikel Arteta, Ignasi Miquel and Andre Santos. In January, Cazorla was joined at the club by his former Malaga team-mate Nacho Monreal too.

He may not have made it into the PFA Team of the Season, but Cazorla’s talents were recognised by many in the media throughout the season and also by the club’s fans, who voted him the club’s Player of the Season for the 2012/13 campaign.

If Cazorla can build on a highly successful first year in England, I’m very much looking forward to seeing what this Spanish magician has in store for us next season.