Alexis Sanchez hailed as best summer signing by Arsenal teammate Santi Cazorla

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez has been hailed by Santi Cazorla as the Premier League's best summer signing.

Chile international Sanchez moved to the Premier League from Barcelona in July 2014 following a productive World Cup on his home continent and has since drawn regular plaudits from pundits and supporters alike for his consistently impressive performances at the Emirates Stadium.

The 25-year-old was certainly not the only big-name player to move to England prior to the start of the 2014-15 campaign, yet Cazorla evidently believes his supremely gifted teammate has made the biggest impact.

"He's the best signing in the Premier League," the midfielder claimed. "There were plenty of good signings -- like Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas -- but Alexis Sanchez has been huge for us.

"He's ambitious, he wants to get better with every training session, and it was positive for him to leave Barcelona. He's now playing with another mindset and he's playing fantastically."

Despite his obvious talent, there was always an underlying feeling that Sanchez was somewhat under appreciated at the Nou Camp and Barcelona's high-profile summer pursuit of Luis Suarez did not appear to reassure the former Udinese star that he would continue to receive the level of regular football that his talent indisputedly merits.

The Catalan club's loss has certainly Arsene Wenger's gain in recent months, however, with Sanchez having scored 12 goals and registered seven assists in 22 top-flight appearances so far this season as Arsenal seek to retain their place in the top four and secure European qualification for the 18th consecutive year.

Earlier this week, Wenger expressed his belief that Sanchez was very keen to join Arsenal despite links to other clubs and claimed that the style of play on show in North London has been a key factor in helping him settle in so quickly.

"Alexis had a few options and he chose us because he felt that's where he wanted to go. Sometimes a player moves somewhere and it's not the choice that he deeply wanted. In his case, I think he really wanted to join us," said Wenger.

"On the pitch, the player has his needs. I felt that he came into a team that plays in an [attacking] way, where he can express his talent with freedom. It works out well for him. That helps."

Wenger's side currently sit fifth in the Premier League, trailing Ronald Koeman's Southampton by a point, and face a trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday before hosting AS Monaco next week for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.