Arsene Wenger says Santi Cazorla's recent goalscoring form has been a timely boost to the side after losing Theo Walcott for the rest of the season.
The Spanish playmaker scored five goals in January, making him Arsenal's third top scorer behind Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey.
Wenger thinks Cazorla has the ability to shoulder the responsibility of scoring goals from midfield during Ramsey and Walcott's absence.
"Cazorla can be the playmaker and goalscorer, at the moment we need these qualities"
Santi Cazorla
"At the moment Cazorla scores and is also very important in the build up of our game," Wenger said. "He is now very important with his finishing qualities, because we lost Walcott who was a goalscoring machine, Ramsey as well who had a great goalscoring record.
"To lose the two of them together, someone needs to score these goals.
"Cazorla can be the playmaker and goalscorer, at the moment we need these qualities. He is a fantastic footballer, but he loves to play.
"He is happy on the pitch and that's all we want from him."
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