Villarreal club ambassador Marcos Senna revealed on Saturday night that the club are in advanced negotiations for Santi Cazorla to join them in pre-season.
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Cazorla’s Arsenal contract comes to an end this summer, and right now the club haven’t shown any desire to renew it. As a result, it seems Villarreal are swooping in to complete a deal for their former player.
“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.”
This would be Arsenal’s second departure of the summer if it goes through, with Hannover’s club president already confirming they’ll sign Takuma Asano on loan next year.
The key part of Senna’s statement is his certainty that Cazorla will be a free agent. Although it sounds like there’s still some work to do for Villarreal to complete the Spaniard’s signing, it doesn’t seem that Senna believes there’s any possibility of an extension with Arsenal.
It’s too bad the way the timing of it all worked out. Cazorla was out injured for 577 days, missing 103 matches. When he finally got fit, it was right at the end of a season, and right as his contract expired.
Even so, he may still have earned a new deal, if Arsene Wenger were still around. But it just so happened he was leaving at the same time. A new manager is less likely to want to take a risk on someone so injury prone, even if it his former teammate Mikel Arteta.
We’ll see if Villarreal confirm the move in the coming days and weeks.
If Arsenal do end up needing a midfield replacement this summer, click ‘Next’ to see the options linked to the club so far
Jean-Michael Seri
- Age: 26
- Current club: OGC Nice
- Contract until: 2019
- Market value: £31.5m
Arsenal have reportedly held talks with Jean-Michel Seri’s representatives as they look to revive a move they tried to make happen last summer.
According to Sky Sports, Arsenal got in touch with Seri’s camp to get discussions started.
This comes just a few days after it was reported that Raul Sanllehi’s involvement could help seal the deal given that he almost landed Seri for Barcelona.
Arsenal’s new director of football reportedly formed a close relationship with the Ivorian last year when he tried to sign him for the Catalans.
That deal didn’t come off, something that Seri reportedly still finds painful, but this summer he is definitely on the move.
Nice are ready to let him, Mario Balotelli, and Alassane Plea leave, with L’Equipe reporting that Arsenal are still interested in Seri who is out of contract next summer.
In their Monday edition, they wrote, “Seri, who focuses interests in the Premier League: Manchester City have added Chelsea – where Roman Abramovich likes him – as well as Arsenal. Raul Sanllehi, director of sports affairs at the London club after having worked for Barça for a long time, has indeed had good relations with the Ivorian midfielder since the player nearly rallied the Catalan giant last summer. The failure of this transfer remains painful for Seri.”
Over the summer, Seri was the only player who came close to Monaco’s Thomas Lemar in terms of Arsenal media speculation.
Arsenal are said to be in the market for a midfielder but Seri’s £36m release fee apparently doesn’t exist so it’s not clear how much he would cost.
Danilo Pereira
- Age: 26
- Current club: FC Porto
- Contract until: 2022
- Market value: £21.6m
We already know from the Portuguese media’s regular reports that Arsenal have spent a lot of time watching Porto play lately. For the most part, they seem to agree that Danilo is one of the key targets of their scouting trips.
The Portugal international is having a fantastic season with Porto, so you can see why he’s drawing interest from top clubs.
Danilo’s main strength is his aerial ability. He stands at around 6’2″, and uses every inch to his advantage. As a result, he’s won 70.1% of his aerial duels this season.
He’s also very comfortable on the ball, completing 86.3% of his passes for Porto. Those are two attributes the Gunners could use in a defensive midfielder.
The only drawback at the moment is that he’s struggling with a couple of injuries. In January he suffered a calf strain, then in February he had a setback keeping him out until April. Unfortunately he then ruptured his Achilles tendon.
If he can get fit and stay fit, Arsenal’s scouts have seen enough of him by now to know whether he’s worth a bid this summer.
Adrien Rabiot
- Age: 23
- Current club: Paris Saint-Germain
- Contract until: 2019
- Market value: £40.5m
Rabiot blends physicality with technical ability, and is a long-term target of Arsene Wenger. Last year he told reporters he was going to talk about extending his contract in the summer, but a year later they still haven’t made any progress.
If that’s still the case when the window opens, with only a year left on his deal, Arsenal should make a move. It’s unlikely they’ll be able to match PSG’s wage offer, but it’s worth a shot anyway.
Rabiot is still young, but he already has a lot of experience under his belt. Plus he ticks all the boxes for what Arsenal need in a midfielder.
He has a physical presence, he doesn’t struggle to play out under pressure, he contributes defensively and gets involved in the goals from time to time as well.
For a more detailed report on Rabiot and what he could offer Arsenal, check out this article.
Mario Lemina
- Age: 24
- Current club: Southampton
- Contract until: 2022
- Market value: £13.5m
Arsenal followed Lemina before his move to Southampton last summer, and the midfielder said at the time that he was “flattered” by their interest. According to L’Equipe, the club still haven’t “dropped the case”.
The 24-year-old excels at tackling and winning aerial duels. He’s also strong in possession, with 88% pass accuracy for the season (89.8% last season), and he isn’t easy to knock off the ball.
Plus, he has the advantage of having played in the Premier League for a year, so he’ll need less time to adapt.
Southampton didn’t end up getting relegated, so that could be a hit to Arsenal’s chances of signing Lemina. However, the fact they came so close might still edge him towards the door.
Fabinho
- Age: 24
- Current club: Monaco
- Contract until: 2021
- Market value: £36m
Fabinho is another player who has been linked with Arsenal a fair amount in the past. The media reported that the club joined Atletico Madrid and Manchester United in following him last summer.
In the end though, Monaco had already sold a number of players for a large profit, so they were under no pressure to offload another.
Nonetheless, Fabinho is still young, and he’s having another great season with the French side. He’s scored eight goals and assisted five, despite largely playing as a defensive midfielder.
The Brazilian is strong in the tackle and in the air, and isn’t easy to knock off the ball. He can also play an accurate pass, and creates chances well when he gets up the pitch. He’s also versatile, having played at right-back before in the past.
He’d be well worth a bid this summer, but there’d probably be competition for his signature.
Steven N’Zonzi
- Age: 29
- Current club: Sevilla
- Contract until: 2020
- Market value: £27m
Earlier this year, N’Zonzi showed just what he’s capable of against English opposition, as he walked all over Manchester United’s midfield in a 2-1 win for Sevilla.
His passing was inch-perfect, as it so often is, and he has a major physical presence as well.
In January, reports suggested the 6’5″ defensive midfielder was Wenger’s number one target. Clearly this turned out not to be the case, but it still implies Arsenal were somewhat interested.
N’Zonzi also seemed fairly keen on a transfer throughout 2017. He asked to leave in the summer, then spent time away from the squad after a rift with the manager.
He ended up focusing on his football again, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the rumours return in this summer window.
Idrissa Gueye
- Age: 28
- Current club: Everton
- Contract until: 2022
- Market value: £16.2m
Like Lemina and N’Zonzi, Gueye also has the advantage of Premier League experience. The Senegal international joined Everton in 2016, and played for Aston Villa before that so he’s spent a while in England now.
Gueye’s game is very much focused around defensive contributions.
His passing stats and goal contributions are relatively average, but he holds onto the ball very well, and consistently puts up high numbers in terms of tackling and interceptions. Plus he rarely loses focus in his defensive duties.
If Arsenal want to sign someone who is less of an all-rounder and more of a defensive midfield specialist, Gueye could be the right player to go for.
Then again, limited technical ability on the ball is why Francis Coquelin ended up leaving. So I’m not entirely sure that’s what they’re after.