Santi Cazorla left Arsenal this summer in one of the saddest departures from the club in recent memory.
A real fan favourite, his struggles with injury over the past two seasons meant he left the club with a whimper. While many of us hoped for a miracle, the Spaniard is still facing a massive uphill battle to return to the playing field.
While he looks to do that with Villarreal, Arsenal need to find a replacement and that’s not going to be easy.
Here are 10 options for them to consider:
2Pablo Fornals
Fornals is a rising star in Spain and the 22-year-old is comfortable playing in a deeper role in midfielder or further up the pitch in the number 10 role.
An established first team regular with Malaga before paying his own release clause of £10m to join Villarreal, he has four goals and nine assists this season in 41 games.
Fornals is one of the few young names that come to mind when you think of a direct replacement for our Spanish magician.
His stats this season may not suggest an eye for goal, but he certainly has one and when combined with his direct running, ability to play as a 6, 8 or 10 it’s not hard to see why he has already been given his full senior Spain debut.
He is under contract until 2022 so he won’t come cheap and it’s unlikely he will switch again just one summer after already moving back to the club where his career started but Arsenal should certainly consider making a move.