Villarreal confirm Santi Cazorla exit and retirement of captain Bruno Soriano

Villarreal have confirmed playmaker Santi Cazorla will leave the club this month while captain Bruno Soriano will retire.

As cited by Cadena Cope, both of the veteran midfielders will represent the Yellow Submarine for the last time in Sunday’s La Liga clash against Eibar with captain Soriano to hang up his boots following the encounter.

A recent report in Spanish radio station Cadena Ser  spoke of the interest from Qatari club Al Sadd, who are coached by former Barcelona captain Xavi Hernandez and who is reportedly the driving force behind a potential move.

Cazorla previously sat out over 20 months of action after two serious ankle injuries, with his playing days feared to be over.

In August 2018, the former Gunners playmaker made his first appearance in 636 days last month following his last outing in October 2016, after a serious of 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.

He has even been involved in the international setup with Spain in recent times due to his fine form but now it appears he is set to leave La Liga this summer.

Soriano played his first game of football last month after sitting out over three years of action with continuous knee injuries – coming on as a substitute against Sevilla having not featured since May 2017.

The holding midfield player has spent the entirety of his professional carer at Villarreal and has represented the club 420 times, while he has also been capped 10 times at international level for Spain.

Tags Bruno Soriano Santi Cazorla
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