How Santi Cazorla stands on brink of long-awaited Villarreal return

“He interprets football as Mozart plays music, Picasso paints or Leonardo da Vinci creates a sculpture. He is a genius.”

Santi Cazorla has been earning positive reviews in pre-season, but after numerous surgeries and almost losing a foot, will he bring the magic back to Villarreal? James Walker-Roberts takes a look…

There's magic in the air at Villarreal this summer.

#VuelveLaMagia for Twitter purposes. The return of The Magician.

The magician in question is not the one that seemingly made a man appear out of thin air last week. Rather it is the man that appeared.

Over the last few years, there have been fears Santi Cazorla might never appear on a football pitch again.

Since suffering an ankle injury while on duty with Spain in 2013, the midfielder has undergone around 10 operations, almost lost a foot to gangrene, and suffered so many complications and setbacks former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said last year Cazorla's injury was the worst he has seen.

In an interview with Marca in 2017, Cazorla said doctors had told him "if you get to walk again with your son in the garden, be satisfied".

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Despite the prognosis, there were still hopes Cazorla might one day return for Arsenal and show off the mesmeric close control and footwork that made him such a fan favourite.

Those hopes came to an end this summer after Cazorla was released at the end of his contract, officially leaving on June 30, 2018, having played his last competitive game for the club on October 19, 2016.

But his journey continues.

He has returned to Spain this summer and trained with the youth teams at Alaves before earning a one-year deal with Villarreal, the club where he started his career.

"It was worth all the suffering just for this moment and I will now give everything I have to play at the highest level," he said after his presentation in front of 4,500 fans at the Estadio de la Ceramica earlier this month.

He played his first game in 636 days when he appeared in a friendly against Hercules and has continued to get much-needed minutes under his belt in pre-season, including starts against Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves and Angers.

In Villarreal's final pre-season friendly against Werder Bremen he came on at half-time and seemed to impress journalist Jose Luis Lizarraga, who writes for El Periodico Mediterraneo.

"If on Thursday, Yunke [a Spanish magician] made Cazorla appear out of nowhere in La Ceramica, 'The Magician' Cazorla made Werder Bremen disappear yesterday," wrote Lizarraga.

"The Asturian's wand gave a recital. What a way to play! He makes it so easy that it confuses. He is so good that he seems to play something different to his rivals. His head sees unmarked players so quickly that sometimes you feel that he places the strikers with an abracadabra where he wants. Santi interprets football as Mozart music, Picasso painting or Leonardo da Vinci doing a sculpture. He is a genius."

Cazorla himself has said "giving up was not an option" and his determination to play again has been revealed in a recent interview with his physiotherapist.

Many things will come into my mind in the hours beforehand, but I will try to enjoy it.

Juan Carlos Herranz, who has been working with Cazorla over the last year, told El Pais how the midfielder left his family in London and moved to Salamanca, living in a hotel and working around the clock on his recovery.

Herranz also tells the story of a setback in November 2017 when it was expected they would have to "start over again".

"We all tried to encourage him, but he was always very positive and said 'come on, this is the last one'," revealed Herranz. "Many times he had to encourage me instead of me encouraging him."

Now, Cazorla is on the brink of making his first competitive appearance in almost two years when Villarreal start their La Liga season against Real Sociedad on Saturday.

But the 33-year-old does not sound like he will be satisfied to just be back out on the pitch.

He is so good that he seems to play something different to his rivals. His head sees unmarked players so quickly that sometimes you feel that he places the strikers with an abracadabra where he wants.

"I want to enjoy things, but I am also demanding and want to keep on improving," he said. "I still have some pain but I want to take that away and make things better.

"I have been moved because I have many feelings and memories, so I hope I can continue to do beautiful things, as I did in the past."

Amidst the excitement of his return, there must be some trepidation for Cazorla.

Can he commit to tackles? What happens if he gets whacked on the ankle? What if he suffers another setback?

Former Leicester and Hull striker Matty Fryatt went through a similar journey to Cazorla after undergoing numerous operations on a persistent Achilles injury.

He retired aged 31 in February 2018, almost three years since he last played a game.

"I have got all the scars," Fryatt told Sky Sports. "If you keep on going into that area, the more of a mess it becomes. I think he has had eight or nine operations the same as me.

"It is a difficult area to diagnose. It's not as straightforward as a knee operation or a broken leg. I am not going to say it is worse. Any injury is bad. But it is not straightforward.

"With my Achilles, I was going into operations with no certainty it would work. Nobody can tell you 100 per cent, but people were telling me, this works on 70 per cent of people and we think it could help you. It was never 95 per cent. For him, it's the same.

"If he can get back it would be fantastic. The good news for him is that he has had about two years out and I had three."

Cazorla himself says his first La Liga match in over 10 years will be "complicated".

He said: "Many things will come into my mind in the hours beforehand, but I will try to enjoy it."

While there might be some lingering concern for Cazorla, there appears little risk for Villarreal. It has been reported they have paid the midfielder 500,000 euros and will then pay him 20,000 euros for every game he plays.

Villarreal head coach Javier Calleja also knows Cazorla well as they were team-mates together at the club from 2003-2006.

Calleja proved himself flexible with formations last season and it looks likely that Cazorla will be given a starting role on the left of midfield. "There have been talks with Calleja," explained Cazorla. "I think he will put me more out wide, with freedom to go to the centre."

With Villarreal playing in the Europa League this season, Cazorla should get plenty of opportunities to feature. Whether he can get back to his best remains to be seen, but seeing Cazorla back on the pitch after so long out should be a magical moment in itself.

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