Arsenal Transfer News: Reports of Santi Cazorla Leaving Gunners Are Bogus

Spanish newspaper Marca and radio stations Onda Cero and Radio Marca have reported that Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has agreed to "personal terms" with Atletico Madrid, according to John Cross of the Daily Mirror.

But, per the aforementioned Mirror report, Arsenal dismissed the claims. 

It makes sense that the Gunners would trounce on the credence of such reports, considering they are bogus.

Tell me, why would Arsenal sell one of its top players when it has the financial flexibility now to actually add a star, such as Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain or Liverpool's Luis Suarez? It makes zero sense that the Gunners would sell Cazorla when they have given every indication that they want to go after the Premier League title next season.

The 28-year-old racked up 12 goals and 11 assists in 38 EPL games (37 starts) last season. WhoScored gave him a rating of 7.83 for the campaign, which ranked eighth among all players in the EPL, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A and La Liga. He ranked ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Paris Saint Germain and just behind Diego of Wolfsburg.

That's some impressive stuff.

By selling Cazorla, Arsenal would be basically admitting it lied to its fans by saying it was legitimately going to chase the EPL title. The reaction around Emirates would probably rival any that Arsene Wenger has witnessed recently as manager of the club. When you deal a player who ranked first on the club in assists and second in goals in 2012-13, you are in for a world of hurt.

There is no doubt that the Gunners look back on their £12 million deal with Malaga for Cazorla last summer as a great success. You don't go ahead and dismiss such a player, especially when he's only one year into his deal. That's ludicrous. 

Plus, Arsenal is trying to strengthen its midfield this summer, not weaken it. There are few players in the world you could add to make up for the loss of Cazorla.

It is a bit odd that such reports even came out; rest assured, Arsenal faithful, you don't need to worry about Wenger selling one of his top players. That would be career suicide.