Villarreal all-time record goal scorer Giuseppe Rossi has described the club’s playmaker Santi Cazorla as ‘an inspiration’.
Cazorla, 34, has suffered a number of injury problems and was released by Arsenal in 2019, before signing consecutive one-year deals at Villarreal last summer – and has starred since, netting 12 goals in 59 appearances.
Last August, the former Gunners playmaker made his first appearance in 636 days last month following his last outing in October 2016, after a serious of ankle injury problems.
Cazorla has previously played for seven seasons across two spells at the Yellow Submarine whilst also representing Recreativo de Huelva and Malaga.
The Spaniard has had to undergo eight operations while he previously explained that doctors had told him he would be lucky to walk again.
Rossi – who is currently a free agent – is currently training with the Villarreal first-team squad with the club confirming the news via a statement on their website last month.
“It’s about how you bounce back and the fight you put into the recovery process,” Rossi explained when asked about Cazorla.
“You want to get back to the level you were at before and you work very hard to get to that.
“I have been down and I have come back up, I’ve been down again but I always come back up.
“It’s the same with Santi, you can see the level he is playing at with Villarreal and with the Spain national team – he is an inspiration to me and all the younger players at the club.
“It’s crazy the parallels that we have, so yes of course, it’s great to see him back playing and the level he is at right now.”
32-year-old Rossi has been without a club since leaving Genoa last year and trained with another of his old teams, Manchester United, in January.
Rossi played with the Yellow Submarine between 2007 and 2013, becoming their top scorer with 82 goals of which 32 came during the 2010-11 campaign.
54 of the former Italy international striker’s goals arrived in La Liga, with seven in the Copa del Rey, five in the Champions League and a further 16 in the Europa League.
