Atletico Madrid have seemingly given up their chase for Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla, after the Spanish club’s President Enrique Cerezo explicitly confirmed that the 29-year old was not in the list of transfer targets prepared by manager Diego Simeone, according to the Daily Mail.

Arsenal have added several players to the squad, but have also lost players like Bacary Sagna, Nicklas Bendtner and Lukasz Fabianski. Atletico, on the other hand have lost big players in Diego Costa, Filepe Luis and Adrian Lopez. Simeone is trying to rebuild the squad over the summer to ensure the club are in a position to defend their La Liga title next season.

Cazorla’s career began with the Villarreal B side in 2003 when he joined as a youth graduate. He earned a promotion to the senior team the following term and represented the club for 3 seasons. After a short spell away from the club at Recreativo, he rejoined Villarreal for four seasons, and he was one of the top players in the then squad. Malaga then snapped him up for a season, before Arsenal recognised his talent and signed him in 2012. Cazorla has made 69 Premier League appearances for the club, scoring 16 goals.

The Spaniard has been a fan favorite at the Emirates Stadium, but he needs to improve his consistency to have a better impact on the club’s season all year long this campaign.