The seven greatest boyhood club swansongs: From Santi Cazorla leading Real Oviedo to promotion to Carlos Tevez’s glorious third spell at Boca Juniors
Santi Cazorla spent seven years in Real Oviedo’s youth team but was forced to depart as a teenager when the club faced severe financial distress, ultimately starting his professional career at Villarreal. He would have three separate stints at Villarreal, alongside spells at Recreativo Huelva, Malaga and Al-Saad, and also played a part in Spain’s back-to-back European Championship successes in 2008 and 2012.
Arsenal snapped Cazorla up after the latter tournament, and he became an Emirates idol thanks to his majestic playmaking skills and versatility, winning two FA Cups under Arsene Wenger. He also won six more trophies in Qatar with Al-Sadd, before re-signing for Oviedo at 38 on an initial one-year contract in August 2023.
Cazorla insisted on playing for the minimum permitted salary, reportedly just €91,000 per season, and that 10 per cent of his shirt sales be reinvested in the academy. He also immediately set his sights on getting Oviedo back into La Liga after a 24-year absence.
Los Carbayones achieved that in the 2024-25 season, and Cazorla was at the heart of their success. Oviedo reached the play-offs after finishing third in the Segunda Division, and saw off Almeria in the semi-finals, 3-2 on aggregate, with Cazorla stepping off the bench to score the winner from a free-kick in the second leg. He also scored in the final against Mirandes, converting a penalty that sparked a memorable 3-2 comeback victory for Oviedo.
Cazorla’s contract then expired, but the 40-year-old signed a one-year extension to have one last shot at La Liga with his boyhood club. Unfortunately, Oviedo ended up finishing bottom of the league and were immediately relegated, despite the best efforts of Cazorla, who was mainly used as an impact substitute.
It was still a happy way for him to cap his storied career, though, as the Spaniard wrote on X when confirming his retirement: “Now that everything is ending, when the boots are being hung up, and the noise is turning into silence, everything fits together, because the ending wasn’t just anywhere – I was at home.”
