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:

4Vincent Koziello

France’s under 21 national football team midfielder Vincent Koziello poses on August 30, 2016 in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines, near Paris. / AFP / FRANCK FIFE

Arsenal were first linked with a move for Koziello back in 2016 when Le10Sport said Arsene Wenger was interested in the then-Nice midfielder.

For whatever reason, the club didn’t make a move for the then 20-year-old and he remained at Nice until signing for FC Koln in the January window for £2.7m with just six months left on his Nice deal.

Still only 22, the right-footed central midfielder, who can also play as a defensive midfielder, may not be keen on moving just a few months after heading to Germany, but it could be a nice chance for his club to make a tidy profit for not much work.

He has little experience at the top level but certainly would have been worth a punt before he sign for FC Koln.

Whether Arsenal could justify spending a much higher fee on him now that he’s under contract until 2022, however, is much harder to determine.