With the signings of Podolski and Giroud came an influx of people telling me that Wenger’s changed and that finally we were making the big signings that would help us compete.  It is certainly true that Wenger has made very positive and exciting signings but for me, Santi Cazorla is the turning point.  Cazorla is on the fringes of the greatest international set up in the world which is a huge achievement given the strength and depth of the Spanish national side.

Arsenal are not the first major club to be linked with the Spaniard, terms were agreed for Cazorla to move to giants Real Madrid, only for Cazorla to turn Madrid down.  Wherever Santi has been in his career he has been something of an icon at his club.  At Villarreal he was considered one of the big three along with Nilmar and Rossi and at Malaga he was the star in the crown of Sheikh Al Thani’s newly constructed side.  Evidently Cazorla has the potential to impress wherever he goes.

What about Theo?

As talked about in a previous blog, Theo’s future remains uncertain at the club.  To many, Cazorla might appear an ideal replacement for Theo.  However, to view the situation in this way is too one-dimensional.  The stats of the two players are remarkably similar with respect to league goals over the past few seasons and Theo gained twice as many assists as Cazorla last season.  This goes to show that although Theo might not give us the glamour signing we want, he is as good a player as Cazorla.

An important point to mention is that Santi is ambidextrous and therefore is competent on either wing meaning that he could provide an alternative to Gervinho on the left.  My point is that Cazorla should not be seen as a replacement of Theo as the two could certainly play together and be part of the same set up.  Despite this, it does seem that if we do buy Cazorla, the likelihood of us selling Walcott does increase as he may become frustrated with the increased competition.

Never even heard of him…

When it comes to transfer gossip, Wenger is a difficult man to read.  With respect to Cazorla Arsene has managed to go from having no idea of the existence of Cazorla (which I find somewhat unlikely) to insisting he is a great player.  This sounds very similar to the Arsene Wenger who insisted Podolski would not join.  I believe that the question regarding Wenger is whether he has the willpower to change his philosophy to capture Cazorla, as it seems likely that it would surpass the record signing mark of £15 million.

Whatever happens, the point I make is not that Cazorla is key to helping us win trophies necessarily, though this may be the case.  Instead I am suggesting that he is key in showing the rest of the world that Arsenal are ready to compete with the big boys of the transfer market.

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