Santi Cazorla to Arsenal

Santiago "Santi" Cazorla grew up as a player in the Villarreal youth system, but like David Villa who grew up less than 25 kilometers from Cazorla, he is Asturian through and through. Villa played for Sporting Gijon and became one of the great Spanish forwards of all-time and Cazorla trained in the youth teams of their great Asturian rivals Real Oviedo.

It would take the young winger five years of struggling, both in the lesser Villarreal sides and also a year at Recreativo de Huelva when he was instrumental to them returning to the Primera Division, before he would secure a place at Villarreal under Manuel Pellegrini where they would finish second to Real Madrid in 2007-2008. He was also a key player coming off the bench during Spain's 2008 European Cup win and repeated the feat in this year's Euros despite missing World Cup 2010 due to injury.

He can play all along the midfield, has the pace and the ball skills to take a man one on one, and is a typically strong Spanish player both physically and mentally to handle the rigors of the Arsenal system and of the Premier League as a whole. It is sad that the Malaga experiment has come to this, selling an integral part of the team to pay for back-wages and debts that the club as a whole has incurred. They have no money. The Emperor, or sheikh in this case, has no clothes, but Arsenal fans are in for a treat.

They may yet let Robin Van Persie go, but either way they have gotten themselves a gem. This is the sort of signing that the Gunner faithful have been asking for since the dismantling of the Untouchables eight long years ago.