Santi Cazorla was in attendance to watch Arsenal’s 4-2 victory over Valencia on Thursday, and he sent good wishes to the club ahead of the Europa League final.
Cazorla left Arsenal for Villarreal last summer, but it’s just a one-hour drive from his new club to Valencia, where his old club played the second leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday night. As a result, the midfielder got himself a ticket and headed down to the ground, where he was spotted and photographed by a Gunners photographer.
Arsenal posted the picture to their Instagram account, to which Cazorla responded: “Thank you, my friends, you know that I will be [a] gooner forever. Good luck in the final, come on!”
— Dan Critchlow (@afcDWvid) May 10, 2019
It’s great to see former players still feeling enough of a connection to the club to come out and support their old teammates. Francis Coquelin was also clearly excited to play against his old club, and he seemed gutted to miss out on the first leg.
Gabriel’s return to face Arsenal wasn’t quite so friendly, as he seemed a bit frustrated at the end of the tie, starting a fight with Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Alexandre Lacazette. Perhaps that was understandable, given he was part of a defence that conceded seven goals to two players.
Nonetheless, Cazorla’s feelings towards the Gunners are clear. Let’s hope Villarreal get a couple of good results to finish the season by avoiding relegation, for his sake.