Speaking on the Soccer AM YouTube channel, Emile Smith Rowe has been raving over former Arsenal star Santi Cazorla.
Cazorla was of course a fan favourite at the Emirates for years, but sadly, injuries affected his final months at the club, with the Gunners deciding to allow him to join Villarreal at the end of the 2017/18 season.
Smith Rowe may not have been a first-team regular during Cazorla’s tenure at the club, but he says that he was amongst the best players he’d ever seen in training.
What’s been said?
Smith Rowe was speaking about his first training session.
“My first training session was when I was about 17 and I was training with like Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla was probably when I was first starstruck. He did something in training and I couldn’t believe my eyes. He chopped in and then out and two guys fell over, and that was the first time I was like ‘wow, this is crazy’,” Smith Rowe said.
The midfielder was then asked how good Cazorla was in training, to which he replied:
“Unbelievable, and everyone says it as well, he was the best”
Exactly what Arsenal need
What would Arsenal give right now for a player like Cazorla?
The Gunners have been scrambling for a creative midfielder all summer long, and while they have signed Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid, it’s hard to imagine he’ll be able to hit the heights Cazorla hit.
The Spaniard was an incredibly unique talent who had the ability to turn the best defenders in the world inside out.
The 36-year-old is now playing in Qatar, but he’ll always be remembered in north London.
Hopefully, Smith Rowe can go on to become half as successful as Cazorla was during his career.
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