by Lewis Ambrose

After winning the Emirates Cup on Sunday, Santi Cazorla and Gabriel were given gifts by the Villarreal president.

The current Arsenal players both used to play for Villarreal, who also won both of their games against Wolfsburg and Lyon across the weekend.

Cazorla established himself at Villarreal after joining the club back in 2003 when he was just 18 years old. Other than one year out on loan Cazorla remained at ‘the Yellow Submarine’ until 2011, scoring 34 goals in 239 appearances before leaving for Malaga. His time at Villarreal saw frequent interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona but he stayed but to dazzle fans at El Madrigal with his quick feet, almost always playing as a wide midfielder.

Gabriel had a less illustrious Villarreal career, joining the Spanish club in August 2013 but only staying for 18 months before his move to Arsenal in January. He still appeared in 50 games for the club and made an impression last year as his tenacious defending saw the club conceded just 17 times in the 19 games he appeared in.

It was a wonderful touch for the president of their former club to thank them for their time at Villarreal on Sunday.