"Santi Cazorla deserved to be in PFA Team of the Year" - Wenger

Arsene Wenger believes Santi Cazorla deserved to be included in this season’s PFA Team of the Year.

Cazorla’s debut season with the Gunners has seen the Spaniard feature in every Premier League game, netting 12 times with seven assists, but he was overlooked for the Team of the Year.

Wenger was surprised the Spanish playmaker did not feature as he feels he fully deserved to be included.

“I am sure he must have been very close to be in there. In my opinion he deserved to be there based on the consistency and quality of his performances,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.

“And then there are the number of chances and assists he created. I think he deserved to be in there.”

Wenger has been impressed with Cazorla since his arrival from Malaga last summer but admits he has been amazed at his stamina during the season.

“I’ll tell you something – if you count the number of training sessions he has missed it will be similar to that [the games he has missed],” he said.

“I can’t remember the number of sessions where he had an injury. His consistency has been remarkable for the games and the training sessions. And one might explain the other one.

“I was not aware of it [Cazorla's stamina before he signed],” added Wenger. “I did check the number of games he played but I was not aware that he would have such stamina in the Premier League.

“I expected him to miss more games because the league is very tough physically. The duels are tough. It shows he has a remarkable body but it shows he is intelligent as well because he knows where to go [on the pitch].”