The former Arsenal midfielder's last appearance was in October 2016 in the Champions League against Ludogorets from Bulgaria,

He then sustained an extremely serious Achilles injury, which prevented him from playing for nearly two years.

However, his time off the pitch came to an end on Tuesday, after he came on for Villareal as a substitute in their pre-season friendly against Hercules.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, but Cazorla was still exstatic to be back on the pitch, posting to social media:

A post shared by Santi Cazorla (@santicazorla) on Jul 17, 2018 at 2:37pm PDT

"There is a lot of work ahead of me but it is the first step. Eternally grateful to the people. It has been worth it to get here THANK YOU."

Cazorla's six year stint at Arsenal ended when his contract expired this summer, and he decided to return to Spain.

Cazorla signed with Villareal for his third season there, after he joined them as a teenager in 2003.