Malaga knock back Cazorla bid

Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini says the La Liga club have rejected what they deemed an insufficient offer for Santi Cazorla.

Premier League outfit Arsenal are reportedly responsible for the bid for the Spain international, but the deal has stalled over the two clubs differences in valuation.

Pellegrini says that selling a key asset would undermine the club’s ambition and wants to keep Cazorla for the upcoming campaign.

“There are always offers made for certain players, when it comes to team restructuring,” Pellegrini told the club’s official website.

“At the moment, we’ve been offered 20 million euros for Santi Cazorla; selling him for this amount of money is practically giving him away.

“I don’t think the club has any intention of doing so; I’ve spoken to (club owners) Abdullah Ghubn and the Sheikh a lot about this, and they’re not thinking about it.

“I believe it would belittle our intention to play in the Champions League, obviously getting offers for players is always worth considering, but Santi leaving here for 20 million wouldn’t look good to other teams.”

The 27 year-old signed for Malaga at start of last season from Villarreal and proved a great success as the side went onto clinch fourth place in the league.