Former Arsenal star opens door to return to club under Mikel Arteta
Former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has suggested he could return to the club as a coach under Mikel Arteta in the future.
Cazorla spent six years at Arsenal, making 180 appearances and winning four trophies. After leaving the club in 2018, he has had positive spells at Villarreal in Spain and Al Sadd in Qatar.
The 36-year-old is still enjoying his time in Qatar, where he has scored 14 goals in 24 games. He is blossoming at the latter stages of his career.
However, he knows he will soon have to turn his attention to what he will do after his playing career ends. A move into coaching would be one option.
That’s the route that two of his former teammates have taken. Cazorla currently plays under former Spain colleague Xavi at Al Sadd, while ex-Gunners teammate Arteta is in charge at the Emirates Stadium.
Arteta played alongside Cazorla for the first four years of the latter’s Arsenal career, before moving to Manchester City to become a coach under Pep Guardiola.
Speaking to AS, Cazorla confirmed he could consider following a similar route if Arteta was to ask – although he is not thinking about that just yet.
“It is something that I would value tomorrow, now I am not considering it,” he said.
“If I am given the opportunity and he believes that I can help him, it is something that I would not mind and would leave the door open to enjoy that experience with him.
“But there is nothing for today, it will be seen.”
Subscribe for free to TEAMtalk’s daily newsletter…
Cazorla explains Arteta importance
Reflecting on his relationship with his former teammate, Cazorla explained that Arteta helped him settle in the Premier League and already looked like he could become a coach.
“Mikel was very important when I came to Arsenal,” he added.
“I did not speak the language and he was the only Spanish [player]. It helped me a lot, both he and his family.
“We were two soccer patients, we watched games and he already had that coaching gene.”
READ MORE: Arteta hints at link-up with former Arsenal star
The post Former Arsenal star opens door to return to club under Mikel Arteta appeared first on teamtalk.com.