Former Arsenal star Santi Cazorla has opened up about a touching gesture from Arsene Wenger during his lengthy injury battle.

Cazorla reveals how Wenger’s support eased his fears and demonstrated the strong bond between player and manager at Arsenal.

Santi Cazorla, the fan-favourite former Arsenal player, shared a touching memory from his time at the club, particularly regarding manager Arsene Wenger‘s compassionate approach during Cazorla’s challenging injury period from 2016 to 2018.

Cazorla told DAZN’s Fever Pitch how Wenger alleviated his worries ahead of a significant ankle surgery, which sidelined him for over six hundred days and caused him to miss 123 games, leaving him fearing he might lose his foot.

Before Cazorla’s operation in Sweden, Wenger invited him to his office unexpectedly and offered him a one-year contract extension to ensure peace of mind during his recovery.

Cazorla, who joined Arsenal from Villarreal in 2012 and made 180 appearances across all competitions (with 29 goals and 45 assists), expressed profound gratitude and affection for Wenger’s gesture, highlighting the former manager’s kindness and the strong sense of support he felt at Arsenal.

“Before I met him [Wenger], he impressed me a lot,” Cazorla said.

“In the end, he was a coach who had been at Arsenal for almost twenty years. I think both Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson are going to be the only coaches who will be at a club for so long.

“But when you have a figure that represents so much for a club, for the fans, for everybody inside Arsenal in this case, you have a lot of respect at first. And yet Arsène is very close,”

“And just with the injury, I had doubts about whether the club wanted to renew me or not. But one day before travelling to have surgery in Sweden, Arsene called me into his office, without me knowing anything and told me: ‘Sign the contract for one more year. Go calmly to your operation, with a clear head, knowing you have one more year at Arsenal’.”

“This is a detail of how he is as a person and one that I will always be grateful to him for. And I will remember him with a lot of love.”

Now 39, Cazorla is still playing a key role with Real Oviedo but with retirement looming, he has spoken frequently about his desire to return to Arsenal in a coaching role at some point in the future.