Malaga up for sale as Cazorla deal moves closer

In the most recent news regarding Arsenal's attempts to sign Spanish international Santi Cazorla is that his club is apparently now up for sale.


Spanish media out AS reported in the last few hours that the owner of Malaga, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani has now entered negotiations with an Albanian investment group over the sale of the club. The Sheikh is said to have lost interest in the Malaga project after the failure to produce a new TV deal in La Liga, and Cazorla's desire to leave the club has convinced him to sell the club.


The Albanian investment group is thought to not be able to convince Cazorla to stay, and a bid between 20-25 million euros may be enough to secure his services.


This breaking news follows the earlier updates in the Sunday editions of the British press. The Guardian reported that we have agreed personal terms with the midfielder, and have submitted an official £16 million bid for the 27 year old, who only signed for Malaga for £15 million pounds last summer.


Arsenal had been interested in the diminutive playmaker last year, but had switched attentions to Juan Mata but ended up losing out on deals for both players. Wenger has followed the Spanish international for a number of years, and last week called him "a great player".


The Guardian went on to reveal that Arsenal "want to have both Cazorla and Sahin available for their final pre-season friendly away to Köln on 12 August."
This news was backed up by the Daily Mail which said that we "expect to complete the club record £15million transfer of Santi Cazorla by Tuesday."

Cazorla would be an excellent coup for the club if we do retain his services next season. The former Villarreal man already has 46 caps for Spain - in recent years filling in a central role as Xavi's understudy - and over the last few seasons has become one of the best players outside of the top 2 cluds in La Liga.


The 5 ft 6 inch midfielder can operate on either flank or centrally and is noted for being nearly totally ambidextrous. He has superb technique and excellent vision, illustrated by his 5 assists last season. He also has an eye for goal and ended last season with 9 goals for Malaga, helping them to 4th in the league. The 27 year old also has helped Spain to win 2 European Championships, and only missed out on a place in the World Cup squad due to injury.

His transfer to North London is becoming increasingly likely, lets hope it works out.