Arsenal are probably famous for keeping injured players on the books ever since the Diaby fiasco, and more recently we have had Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky given an extra year, when Arteta was patently too old and injury-prone to play again, and Rosicky definitely didn’t want to stay and sit on the bench for another year.
And it looks like Wenger is going to carry on the tradition buy giving Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla another years wages. Here is an extract from Arsenal.com…
on whether Mertesacker and Cazorla’s contract are dependent on their fitness…
Wenger: No. We have an option on both of them and I think we will take it.
Mertesacker is our captain, we know that, but he was injured for the second half of last season and is yet to play even one game in the current campaign. We still don’t know when he is likely to be fit enough to play, but with Mustafi, Holding and Gabriel now in competition to be the partner to Laurent Koscielny is he even likely to get a place on the bench?
Santi Cazorla is an absolute genius, but he is now 32 years of age and is now plagued by ongoing injuries. He has played just 8 games this season, and although most of us know we haven’t got a truly equal replacement yet, is there really much hope of him coming back to his previous level of speed and talent if he ever recovers from his latest operation? Especially next season when the younger Xhaka and Ramsey, and maybe Elneny, are now competing for his place?
We already have Debuchy and Sanogo taking up unneccessary space in our squad, so can we afford to pay another two players at least 50,000 a week just to talk to our youngsters now again? Should that money be better spent on paying players that may actually be able to play once in a while?
Or are Arsenal fans happy to stay as a charity for old and injured footballers?
Darren N
wenger knows best i guess
Mertesacker is definitely past it – he shouldn’t be offered a new contract imo. Cazorla, however should definitely be, as it is possible that he can fully recover and be able to play without injury. He is getting into his 30’s but he was never the fastest of players and the vision and agility he has I think will stay for a bit longer. We’ll have to see what happens after he fully recovers from the recent problems
Surely Mertesacker is the one that benefits the most from the fact that pace was never part of his game at all, though?
Mertesacker – no.
Cazorla – yes. 2 year contract.
No more charity work like with Flamini, Arteta, Diaby, Denilson, Bendtner etc.
OT,
Im seriously considering a trip across the pond for the Champions League showdown against BM and was curions if theres any chance to secure tickets for the fixture.
Any help or info would be greatly appreciated.
Big
I’m a bit worried that we’ve never been given a time for SC’s return. That is unusual, even for Wenger, he always replies that he is far off, which could mean anything
The Wilshere of this season. We’ll see him in May.
I am hoping the healing is going on well with cazorla, Mert not my favorite defender but both are quite important to the arsenal development in different ways.
Cazorla is our best creative midfielder, Mert is important to assist with our young defenders development, both are not speedy customers, so no need to think of their lack of pace, they more rely on skill and positioning.
Two year contracts for both should not be a problem for both
Mertesacker shouldn’t be given a contract,not because of his age,but he doesn’t have any other thing to offer on the pitch,Cazorla on the other hand needs at least two year contract,I would have preferred a year but since we don’t have creative midfielder like him and I said it in one article a while ago we needed his replacement since three years ago,someone who is good and can learn from Santi also. Since we don’t have that ATM then give Santi two year contract. Other big clubs have great midfielders within that age bracket,its all about keeping him fit.
we’re at the Rosicky stage with Santi. He’ll be injured 90% of the season, every season. Apparently Santi may want to return to Spain to end his career. Arsenal need to start looking for a replacement this summer either way.
Xherdan Shaqiri anyone? The more I see him play, the more I see a young, faster version of Santi Cazorla. The boy is a genius and marvel to watch.