Arsenal completed their first signing of the January transfer window on Wednesday with the arrival of Pablo Mari from Flamengo.
Now, they will be adding to that with the potential arrival of Southampton right-back Cedric Soares. David Ornstein of The Athletic, took to his Twitter account to talk about this deal.
He said:
“Expectation is Arsenal will complete signing of 28yo Portugal full-back Cedric Soares from Southampton within 24hrs. Loan until end of season will earn #SaintsFC £5m inc full salary cover + put #AFC in pole position if they want permanent when free agent in summer.”
Expectation is Arsenal will complete signing of 28yo Portugal full-back Cedric Soares from Southampton within 24hrs. Loan until end of season will earn #SaintsFC £5m inc full salary cover + put #AFC in pole position if they want permanent when free agent in summer @TheAthleticUK
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) January 29, 2020
Cedric joined Southampton in the summer of 2015 and he has proven to be a dependable presence for the Saints but with his contract up at the end of the summer, it presents the right time for the North London club to pounce and get him to the Emirates.
Though Arsenal have Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles to play at right-back, but it seems Arteta might not use Niles in that role going forward. The manager recently said(as per Football London):
“When we are analyzing the opponent and there are some errors that happen on the pitch we have to correct them and try to help the players as much as possible and we can ask Ainsley (to do) a lot of things but he’s not a full-back.”
The youngster has played in the center of midfield for Arsenal in the past so perhaps he could be returning there. The arrival of Cedric means that he will not have to deputize for Bellerin. Cedric can fill in that role and his Premier League experience means that he will be able to slot in without any problem.
And the Portuguese right-back will have an opportunity to impress the Arsenal manager in regards to his capabilities. If he manages to do well, it will help ease Bellerin back into the team who is returning after a long-term injury.
The club can then decide if they want to make the Cedric loan deal permanent or not depending on his performances. It is a low-risk move that will solve an immediate problem and maybe free up Maitland-Niles to play further up the pitch.
