Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has admitted he would be interested in a return to Villarreal at some stage in his career.
The 31-year-old joined Villarreal from Oviedo at the age of 17 and made over 200 appearances in all competitions for the club in two spells sandwiched by a brief stint at Recreativo Huelva.
He left Villarreal for Malaga ahead of the 2011-12 campaign, only to join Arsenal one season later.
The midfielder has not forgotten about his former team, though, and is keen to return to El Madrigal before hanging up his boots.
I do not rule out returning to Villarreal one day, Cazorla told AS.
Everybody in the world knows that Villarreal are a very special club to me.
Cazorla has a contract with Arsenal until June 2017.
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Injury-hit Socceroo Rhys Williams will look to get his career back on track on home soil after signing a one-year deal with Perth Glory for the 2016-17 A-League season.
Out of contract at the end of the season, the Perth-born utility was announced as the Glory s latest signing on Wednesday after spending his entire senior career at Championship outfit Middlesbrough.
The 27-year-old has made 126 league appearances for Boro, who he also captained, after debuting in the Premier League in 2007.
Since, he has struggled with a host of injury problems that have cost him spots at both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups with Australia.
Despite that, Williams still has 14 senior caps to his name, the last of those coming in 2013 in a friendly against France.
Havi…
Australia s all-time leading goalscorer Tim Cahill insists Ange Postecoglou s legacy will last forever amid doubts of his future as Socceroos head coach.
The Socceroos edged past Syria 2-1 after extra time on Tuesday to advance to the inter-confederation World Cup play-off against Honduras in November but attention has turned to Postecoglou, who is reportedly set to quit his post next month.
A report by News Limited claimed Postecoglou – often criticised for his style of play and squad selection – was set to quit regardless of the result of November s two-leg play-off, and the Asian Cup-winning boss offered no guarantees over his future on Wednesday with Sydney FC head coach Graham Arnold believed to be the frontrunner.
Australia star Cahill, who scored twice…
Ganso has been called up to replace the injured Kaka in Brazil s Copa America Centenario squad, it was announced on Wednesday.
Kaka was initially called up as an injury replacement for Douglas Costa after the Bayern Munich midfielder suffered a thigh injury.
However, Orlando City s Kaka was ruled out for at least the next 20 days after scans revealed a hamstring strain.
The 34-year-old is replaced in Brazil s 23-man squad for the Copa America, held in the United States for the first time, by former Sao Paulo team-mate Ganso.
Ganso, 26, has not played for Brazil since coming off the bench in a 2-1 international friendly win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2012.
Before that, the attacking midfielder had started every game of Brazil s 2011 Copa A…
According to De Telegraaf, Ajax are attempting to work on a deal that would see returning to the club after four years away. The 28-year-old, who can play as both a defender and a midfielder, was sold to back in 2014 and has made over 100 appearances for the Premier League giants in that time. While he was initially viewed as a key acquisition for the club, it seems as if he has slowly fallen out of favour with manager Jose Mourinho.
Blind actually started the Europa League final against Ajax last year, but since then, it s hardly been an easy ride for him at Old Trafford. If given the chance to return to the club that he started with at the age of eight, it could wind up being a simple decision for him.
Blind wound up making just seven appearances in the Premier Leag…
Borussia Dortmund s sporting director Michael Zorc is confident Marco Reus will commit his long-term future to the club.
The Germany international, who joined BVB from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2012, is under contract at Signal Iduna Park until the end of the 2018-19 season.
The 28-year-old said in an interview with GQ last month that he is considering the prospect of leaving the club next year for what he expects to be the final part of his career at the highest level.
However, Zorc remains confident Reus will not depart the Bundesliga leaders, telling Kicker: We see Marco with us in the long run.
Reus is yet to make an appearance this season as he continues his recovery from a cruciate ligament injury sustained in last term s DFB-Pokal final.
Gareth Bale continues to ride the major football headlines.
The Welshman got back from his injury with a bang this week as he scored a winning goal for Real Madrid in a 2-1 FIFA Club World Cup victory over Al Jazira.
Bale spared Real Madrid’s blushes by sending Los Blancos into the final just seconds after his introduction last night. Welsh wizard was on the bench for the evening and was only brought in for the last ten minutes at the 1-1 score after Al Jazira took a shock 1-0 lead against the reigning European champions.
Bale latched on a ball from Lucas Vazquez and fired it home to follow up on Cristiano Ronaldo’s leveler earlier in the second period. The winning goal marked a fantastic return from yet another calf injury that kept Bale out of action since Real M…
Real Madrid will this season attempt to become the first team to retain the Champions League since AC Milan s back-to-back European Cup triumphs in 1989 and 1990.
Victorious for the 11th occasion in the club s glittering history thanks to a penalty shootout success against city rivals Atletico Madrid at San Siro in May, the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus appear best equipped to challenge Los Blancos.
Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City continue to search for a breakthrough on the continental stage, while surprise Premier League winners Leicester City get a first taste of the biggest club stage of all.
With the help of Opta, we bring you the some of the key numbers ahead of the 2016-17 group stage draw on Thursday.
UEFA will strip St Petersburg of the right to host May s Champions League final, Stats Perform understands, after the governing body released a statement condemning Russia s attack on Ukraine.
Russia s military assault on neighbouring Ukraine unfolded after President Vladimir Putin recognised the independence of two pro-Russia breakaway regions in the east of the country, leading Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sever diplomatic ties and declare martial law.
With Russia s actions attracting international condemnation, UEFA has been forced to backtrack on claims earlier this week that there were no plans to move the final.
Stats Perform now understands that the decision has been made to strip Zenit St Petersburg s Gazprom Arena of the showpiece event, a…
With England s lower leagues taking center stage this weekend thanks to November s international break, we are offered a host of noteworthy meetings from up and down the country. On that note, for those of you looking to stick on a Saturday acca, we have found you a handful of helpful tips that could boost your flutter.
Saturday 14th November
BST 15:00 Crewe Alexandra vs Peterborough United
Starting with Saturday s guests, while a heavily-altered Peterborough might have suffered penalties defeat away at Cambridge while on EFL Trophy duties earlier in the week, the Blues do find themselves enjoying a glittering League One purple patch. Along with managing to extend their FA Cup adventure thanks to a 2-1 win away at Oxford last week, Darren Ferguson s men find…