Santi Cazorla has left Arsenal after six years in North London, the club has announced.

After coming to the end of his contract with the Gunners, the Spaniard and the club have decided he won’t renew his deal. Instead he’ll now move on, presumably to Villarreal, after Marcos Senna’s recent comments suggesting the midfielder is deep in negotiations with the La Liga side.

“I would love to confirm it [a permanent transfer],” Senna said. “But at the moment what I’ve said is that there are advanced negotiations between Santi Cazorla and Villarreal for the player to spend pre-season with the club.

“Cazorla will be a free agent.”

The departure is Arsenal’s first official transfer of the summer, and whilst it’s sad to see Cazorla go, it was probably for the best. He was out injured for 577 days, missing 103 matches before his return this month. When he finally got fit, it was right at the end of the season, and right as his contract expired, which is unfortunate timing.

Even so, he may still have earned a new deal, if Arsene Wenger were still around. Without the manager who brought him to the club, and who kept renewing his contract, it was always going to be a long shot.

Nonetheless, we’re left with plenty of happy memories of the 33-year-old’s time with Arsenal. Most notably the 2014 FA Cup win of course, when his free-kick inspired a comeback from two goals down to win 3-2.

We wish him all the best for the future, wherever that may be.