A favourite of the Arsenal fans since his arrival in North London 6-years ago, Santi Cazorla departed the club this summer having not played a game for the guts of two seasons.
Suffering what Arsene Wenger described as the 'worst injury he had seen,' Cazorla is now back at Villarreal in La Liga and, despite a series of diagnoses that argued to the contrary, playing again.
With 77-international caps for Spain to his name, Cazorla may not have been involved with the World Cup-winning side of 2010 (due to injury, unfortunately), but, he was on hand when Spain claimed wins in the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.
A supremely talented player, Cazorla has spoken to The Guardian of the difficulties he has faced in recent years, and why he will be 'eternally grateful' to Wenger for an act of astonishing kindness when he was at his lowest ebb.
Having suffered at the hands of doctors who had failed to adequately deal with an infection on Cazorla's leg, the Spaniard was left facing the very real prospect of amputation.
Amazed that "they never took responsibility or said sorry," Cazorla spoke of Wenger's alternative approach.
Arsène always supported me. He renewed my contract before the first operation, which was an incredible gesture.
He called me in: ‘Santi, I’m going to give you the optional year. It’s here, sign it, have your operation with peace of mind.’ That helped me focus on my rehabilitation without fear.
I’m eternally grateful for that.
Given that there was no guarantee Santi Cazorla would play for Arsenal again, let alone return the kind of player he was when injured initially, it serves to highlight the incredible generosity of Wenger's outlook.
You can read the entirety of Cazorla's wonderfully candid interview with Sid Lowe here.
