Atletico hope to sign €20m Arsenal star, who wants summer exit

Santi Cazorla
Santi Cazorla

La Liga champions Atletico Madrid are hoping to sign Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla, according to reports from Spain.

Cazorla joined Arsenal in 2012 from La Liga outfit Malaga and quickly established himself as a key player for the Gunners; but now Spanish newspaper AS claims that the 29-year-old is interested in returning back to Spain with Atletico.

santi-cazorla-getty

Atletico are hunting for a solid attacking midfielder, as they look to find an able replacement for the Brazilian Diego, who has recently joined Turkish side Fenerbahce.

AS reckons that Cazorla has a contract till 2016 but they probably haven’t taken into consideration his recent contract extension that will keep him at the North London club till 2017.

Atletico are expected to make huge profits through player sales, and could use a portion of that money to bid for Cazorla, if they want to. That is indeed an ideal scenario. In reality, Arsenal will surely not entertain any bids made for the player, who is crucial to their attacking makeup, unless they are presented with an offer they can’t refuse.

Cazorla is an important member of this Arsenal squad and it would send out a wrong message to the fans again, should another top player leave the club this summer. Most importantly, Arsenal will be looking to improve their squad (a strong title challenge should be their top priority this season) by adding top players and not selling them.

Also, one cannot help but wonder why would Cazorla want to leave Arsenal, when he signed a new contract only few months back?

While there could be an interest from the Atletico camp, as the Rojiblancos might see Cazorla as the type of player they need, but highly unlikely that the Spain international will be leaving the Emirates this summer.

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