The Evening Standard has reported that Arsenal star man, Santi Cazorla could be in line to make his first appearance for the club since November in an under-21 play-off game against Blackburn. Cazorla did make the bench for Arsenal’s 1-0 victory against Norwich but did not feature.
After suffering a knee injury against Norwich in November, Cazorla suffered a setback in his recovery, meaning that he has only returned to first team training recently. After failing to gain automatic promotion, the under-21’s will be hosting a crucial the play-off semi-final tonight, in their bid to gain promotion. Not only could Cazorla gain much needed fitness from this game but also provide some much needed quality for the under-21s, who will be without Donyell Malen and Marcus McGuane, both of whom will be taking part in the European under-17 Championships.
It is clear that since November, the Arsenal first team has been missing his quality in midfield. While Mohamed Elneny has performed well over the last few weeks, both Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin have struggled to provide much creativity in the second-half of the season.
Many often regard Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez as Arsenal’s most essential players going forward, but it has been the loss of the Spaniard which has crippled Arsenal offensively. His excellent touch, ball control and passing, were all sorely missed as Arsenal struggled to maintain a title push. If his time off has shown the manager, and the fans anything, it is that Cazorla is essential to Arsenal.
This under-21 game is a perfect opportunity for the Spaniard to gain match fitness, but also push the under-21s to promotion. With just two games left in the Premier League, it would be nice to see Cazorla feature in at least one. Playing tonight in the under-21’s match is one of the final steps towards this.
