He's one of the best I've played with - one day he could return to Arsenal

Former Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna says he believes Santi Cazorla will return to the club "one day", and that he would favour a more hands-on role on the coaching side rather than as a sporting director.

Cazorla spent six years as an Arsenal player, but had his time with the club cruelly restricted by injuries. An Achilles issue in 2016 required surgery, but the Spanish star contracted gangrene, leading to worries that he may not even be able to walk again, let alone play football.

Unfortunately, it spelled the end of his Gunners career, before he went back to Villarreal, playing his first game in nearly two years in a friendly before signing with the La Liga side. After a stint there and in Qatar with Al-Sadd, Cazorla is back at his first club Real Oviedo, and is still playing in the second division in Spain at the age of 39.

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The Gunners hero has spoken of returning to north London to play a final game and say a true goodbye to Arsenal fans, and while it seems unlikely he will return as a player before his retirement, former teammate Sagna says he thinks the midfielder will be back one day as a coach.

"Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta have an amazing relationship," Sagna told Mega Dice. "I believe Santi could be on his way back to Arsenal one day. He wouldn’t be brought back just because he is Mikel’s friend. Santi would add a lot of value to Arsenal in any capacity. Hopefully they can discuss it.

"Santi obviously has a great connection to Arsenal and the fans love him at the club. I always rated him as probably one of the best players I've played with because of his quality with the ball and because of his football brain."

Sagna says that while Edu has recently resigned from his role as sporting director, he would expect Cazorla to be more focused on the coaching side of things than the boardroom. The former defender says his old teammate could even be a major boost for the younger players at the club.

"I actually think that Santi would be better suited to a more hands-on role on the grass rather than as a sporting director. He would be a major boost to the players, especially the youngsters. He brings an amazing energy to the field, and he has so much passion for football."