From gangrene to glory, Santi Cazorla’s fairytale finish proves you really can go home again.

What a ride it’s been for Santi Cazorla. The former Arsenal midfield magician has finally called time on his playing days at 41, and honestly, what a way to go out.

You’ll remember the Spaniard for those two FA Cup wins with the Gunners, including that absolute peach of a free-kick against Hull City in the 2014 final. Add two Euros titles with Spain and you’ve got a proper CV. But the wildest part of his story? Coming back from the brink in 2016.

After picking up gangrene following an operation, doctors told him he was lucky to even walk again. Most players would’ve been done. Not Santi. Eleven surgeries later, he was back on the pitch, pulling strings like he’d never left.

And he got his storybook ending. Cazorla spent his last three years back where it all began, at boyhood club Real Oviedo. In a heartfelt video posted on X, he put it perfectly: “Now that everything is ending, when the boots are being hung up, and the noise is turning into silence, everything fits together, because the ending wasn't just anywhere - I was at home.”

Oviedo aren’t ready to say goodbye just yet, either. The club said they’d love him to stick around in any role that makes him happy. And in true Cazorla fashion, his final act was pure class.

According to Oviedo, he returned on the minimum salary the league allows and gave all his image rights to the club. His only ask? That 10% of his shirt sales go straight to Real Oviedo’s youth academy to help the next generation.

Legend on the pitch, legend off it. Thanks for the memories, Santi.

Source: cbinews.tv

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