Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez agree over “one of the best” Arsenal talents

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Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez agree over “one of the best” Arsenal talents

Arsenal faced some challenges in the final years of Arsene Wenger’s reign as manager, but the Emirates Stadium was still home to a slew of top players.

Over the course of five and a half years, Olivier Giroud scored more than 100 goals for the Gunners, while Alexis Sanchez won the club’s Player of the Year award twice in his first three seasons.

However, there were players on the club’s books at the time who could have achieved even more had injury not intervened, and Giroud and Sanchez agree on one such player’s identity.

Giroud was asked about his time in England, which included a stint at Chelsea, and he echoed his former teammate’s comments.

When asked by Tribal Football to name the best players he has played with, Giroud replied, “One of the best players I played with at Arsenal was Santi Cazorla.”

Cazorla joined Arsenal in the same summer as Giroud, and he was instrumental in the club’s FA Cup victories in 2014 and 2015.

However, injuries limited the Spanish midfielder’s appearances for the Gunners over his last two seasons with the club to just 11 appearances.

Giroud’s comments call to mind Sanchez’s 2015 interview, in which he called Cazorla a “spectacular player.”

“You never know whether he will kick the ball with his right or left foot. Also, he moves with short but quick strides, which is a remarkable trademark too,” the Chilean said.

“Although I knew about his quality, playing alongside him makes me very happy.”

Cazorla, who turns 37 in December, has had a late-career renaissance.

In 2018, he returned to former club Villarreal for two seasons before joining Al-Sadd and winning the Qatar Stars League’s Player of the Year award in his first season.

Former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin was one of the players who partnered Cazorla in the middle of the park during their time in north London, and he summed up his teammate’s quality at the start of the 2015-16 season.

It is easy to play alongside Santi because he is such a great player,” Coquelin said .

“Last season with Santi was something special because we got a lot of praise, but the most important thing is that no matter who plays, we can get the result.”

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Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez agree over “one of the best” Arsenal talents