Santi Cazorla changes to preferred shirt number | OneFootball

Santi Cazorla has changed his Villarreal shirt number for the new season, moving from 19 to 8.

Santi Cazorla wore the 19 at Arsenal during his time at London so, when he moved to Spain at the end of his contract, he picked the same number there.

Now, with a new contract in the bag and a new season ahead with no doubts over his fitness, he has moved to the number 8 after Pablo Fornals left for West Ham, freeing up the shirt.

It was the number he wore with the La Liga side during his first spell with the club before his move to Malaga in 2011 where he wore the 12 for a season.

When he arrived at Arsenal in 2012, the 8 was being used by Mikel Arteta who had arrived the season before, a few weeks after Samir Nasri left to free up the shirt.

He did, however, get to wear the 8 at Arsenal once – when he turned out for the u21s

Cazorla played 46 matches last season despite fearing he would lose his leg while at Arsenal. He scored seven, assisted 11, and was key in helping his side avoid relegation.

As a reward, the 34-year-old was handed another contract until the end of 2020.