Former Arsenal and Spain midfielder Cazorla retires from football

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Former Arsenal and Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 41.

Cazorla started and finished his career with Real Oviedo, leaving his boyhood club without playing a senior game in 2003 before returning 20 years later to help them win promotion to LaLiga.

They were relegated back to the second tier of Spanish football in 2025-26 as they finished bottom of LaLiga, with Cazorla making 28 appearances and registering a single assist.

The most successful period of Cazorla’s career came with Arsenal between 2012 and 2018, as he helped the Gunners win back-to-back FA Cups in 2014 and 2015. 

He made 180 appearances for the Gunners in all competitions, scoring 29 goals and supplying 44 assists, while only playing more games for Villarreal, who he represented 316 times across three different spells.

“Now that everything is ending, when the boots are being hung up, and the noise is turning into silence, everything fits together,” Cazorla said in a video posted to social media.

“Because the ending wasn’t just anywhere – I was at home.”

— Santi Cazorla (@19SCazorla) July 2, 2026

In a statement, Oviedo invited Cazorla to remain at the club in an off-pitch role and said: “Cazorla decided to come back earning the minimum salary allowed by the league and donated all his image rights to the club.

“In return, he only asked that 10% of the sales of his jersey be entirely dedicated to Real Oviedo’s youth academy, to contribute to the growth of future generations.”

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