Former Arsenal star Santi Cazorla plays first game for 636 days in Villarreal pre-season friendly

Former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla played his first game for 363 days when coming off the bench for Villarreal in a pre-season friendly.

As Standard Sport first revealed in May, the La Liga side were keen to give Cazorla a place to rehabilitate before the season began after Arsenal opted not to extend his contract.

Cazorla received a standing ovation at Villarreal's training ground Mini Estadi when coming on for Ramiro Guerra in a 1-1 draw with Hercules.

The 33-year-old last played when Arsenal thrashed Ludogorets 6-0 in the Champions League group stage on October 19, 2016.

Arsene Wenger had previously described Cazorla’s Achilles injury as "the worst I have ever known" but maintained the midfielder would play on.

​Cazorla last November revealed the full extent of the problem in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca earlier, claiming he almost had his foot amputated during a period in which he underwent eight operations in a year.

"It is the worst injury I have known, starting with a pain in the Achilles and it has gone from worse to worse.

"I must say I know how much Santi loves to play football and loves to be out there every day and I feel very sorry for what happened to him, because it is unbelievable."