Pull up a stool, order a double, and let us pour one out for the absolute joy of football. Santi Cazorla has finally hung up his boots at the ripe old age of 41, as the BBC reported today. If you do not have a smile on your face thinking about this guy, you probably cheer when players get booked for showing emotion. The little magician is done, and the internet is currently a swamp of tears and nostalgia.

The Arsenal nostalgia trip and the great what-ifs

Go to any Arsenal forum today and you will think the club just lost its stadium. The Gunners fanbase is currently doing what they do best: wallowing in the glory days of Wengerball and crying about what could have been. Let us be honest, they have a point. Cazorla was the glue that kept those late Arsene Wenger teams from completely self-destructing on the pitch.

He was the midfielder who could escape a phone booth with three defenders pressing him. The enthusiasts on Reddit are already debating his place in the club's modern history. Some are arguing he was more influential than Mesut Ozil during their peak years together in north London.

One Arsenal fan on a message board wrote that Cazorla's two-footedness was a cheat code. They recalled how he would swap feet to take corner kicks depending on the angle. Another user posted that the moment Santi's ankle gave out against Ludogorets in 2016, the Wenger era was effectively over.

His ankle injury was not just a setback; it was a medical horror story. The Spaniard had to endure 10 surgeries after contracting a flesh-eating bacteria in his tendon. Doctors told him he would be lucky to walk in his garden with his kids again.

He proved them wrong. He got a skin graft from his tattooed forearm and went on to play at the top level for another eight years.

The enthusiasts will tell you his free-kick in the 2014 FA Cup final was the turning point for the modern club. Arsenal were two goals down to Hull City inside ten minutes and panicking. Santi stepped up, whipped a perfect set-piece into the top corner, and sparked the comeback that ended a nine-year trophy drought with a 3-2 extra-time win.

The Qatar detour and the Oviedo fairytale

Naturally, the contrarians have logged on, and they are pointing fingers at his late-career choices. After his miraculous resurrection at Villarreal, where he scored a brace against Real Madrid in 2019, he departed for Qatar. He spent three years playing for Al Sadd under Xavi, which some fans see as a blatant cash grab.

One skeptic on Twitter argued that the Qatar move took the shine off his recovery story. They wrote that he chose the easy paycheck over competing in a top European league. Another forum user pointed out that his recent run with Real Oviedo did not even end in promotion, making it more of a PR campaign than a sporting success.

Let us inject some reality into this debate. The man had just survived a career-ending injury and had to verify if his ankle would hold up. Taking a tax-free payday in the desert after almost losing your leg is not selling out; it is basic financial intelligence.

Besides, he more than redeemed his romantic credentials when he returned to Spain. He signed for his childhood club, Real Oviedo, in the Segunda Division for the absolute minimum league wage of 75,000 euros a year.

He went a step further by insisting that all his shirt sales revenue go directly into funding the club's youth academy. He also refused to take any percentage of his image rights. Show me another modern footballer who would do that instead of signing a massive contract in the Middle East.

As the BBC announcement circulated, fans of Oviedo expressed their gratitude for his final season. Even though Oviedo fell just short in the promotion playoffs against Espanyol, his presence galvanized the entire city. The romantic side of the game is alive and well, even if the skeptics want to grumble about Segunda Division playoff stats.

The Verdict: Was Santi actually world-class?

Now for the real debate at the bar. Was Santi Cazorla actually a world-class midfielder, or are we grading him on a curve because he is the most likable man in the sport? To answer this, you have to look at the absurd era of Spanish midfielders he competed against.

The guy won 81 caps for Spain, which is a massive achievement when you realize he was fighting for minutes against Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, and Juan Mata. In any other generation, he is the first name on the team sheet for his country.

His peak years at Arsenal showed a player who was completely press-resistant. He could drop deep, pick up the ball from the center-backs, and carry it forward under intense pressure. He did not have the physical dominance of Patrick Vieira, but his spatial awareness was second to none.

Here is where he ranks in the pantheon of modern Arsenal midfielders:

  • He was more consistent than Mesut Ozil, who often went missing during cold away fixtures.
  • He was more technically gifted than Aaron Ramsey, despite the Welshman's knack for scoring FA Cup winners.
  • He lacked the raw pace of Alexis Sanchez, but his decision-making in the final third was far superior.
  • He remains the only midfielder in Premier League history to consistently take set-pieces with both feet.

The skeptics are dead wrong to dismiss him as a mere nostalgia act. His influence was not just about the good vibes and the constant smiling on the pitch. When Cazorla was injured in late 2016, Arsenal’s entire midfield system collapsed.

Francis Coquelin looked like a world-beater next to Santi because Santi did all the heavy lifting in possession. Without Cazorla, the Gunners had no transition play and quickly fell out of the Champions League spots.

He was the player who made everyone around him look ten percent better. He did it all while playing with the pure, unadulterated joy of a kid in a park. Even when his Achilles tendon was held together by stitches and hope, he wanted the ball.

Put some respect on the little man's name

So, let us wrap this up before the bartender cuts us off. Do not let the contrarians tell you he was just a neat little player who had a good run in the mid-2010s. Santi Cazorla was a master of his craft who defied medical science to play the game he loved until he was 41.

Raise your glass to the double-footed genius. We will not see another player like him anytime soon.