New link: Arsenal target brilliant Cazorla replacement – report

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has the unenviable task of replacing Santi Cazorla and it’s a problem which isn’t going to simply go away.

The 32-year-old Arsenal legend has been at the club since 2012 and they always play their best football with him in the side.

His long-term injury this season has been painfully felt and without him Arsenal simply don’t enjoy the same creativity or speed of play. Cazorla can effortlessly turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye with his brilliant football brain. In many ways, he is the heartbeat of the current Arsenal set up.

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder stands at 5ft 10in. He spent his youth at Vilarreal and Castellon before moving to Malaga in 2012. After a couple of seasons in the youth team they could no longer hold him back and he has gone on to become a regular in the Malaga side with over 50 appearances and 6 goals to his name.

He’s a really clever and technically brilliant player whose form has not gone unnoticed at international level. After just one appearance in the U21 side he was fast tracked to the full international set up for Spain where he made his debut in 2016 against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Switzerland.

Arsenal need a new playmaker and Arsene Wenger loves to buy young players with promise. If Fornais is chosen then the Frenchman will hope that he can be the new Fabregas. But it’s a huge amount of pressure to put on young shoulders and a player with more experience may prove a better option.

Arsenal fans: can he fill the huge boots of the maestro or should Wenger attempt to get Cazorla playing until he’s 40?