Legendary Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla, a two-time European Champion, has officially announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 41, bringing down the curtain on an iconic career at his boyhood club, Real Oviedo.
“Now that everything is coming to an end, that I am hanging up my boots and the noise is giving way to silence, everything makes sense, because this end didn’t happen just anywhere: I was at home,” Cazorla shared in an emotional video posted to his social media channels.
Cazorla spent the final three seasons of his career playing for Real Oviedo in the Spanish second division, the very club where he took his first steps in youth football. His return to the Asturian side in 2023 became one of the most celebrated stories in Spanish football due to his immense selflessness.
Read more: World Cup: Ramos stoppage time winner sends Portugal past Croatia
To help the financially strained club comply with league regulations, Cazorla insisted on playing for the absolute minimum wage permitted by LaLiga and completely waived his image rights so that 10% of all shirt sales could go directly into funding the club’s youth academy.
Real Oviedo released a statement honoring their hometown hero, expressing a deep desire to keep him at the club in any capacity he chooses. “Cazorla decided to return, accepting the minimum wage allowed by the league and donating all his image rights to the club,” Oviedo stated, adding that the door remains completely open for him to transition into a directorial or coaching role whenever he feels comfortable.
