Arsenal could be tempted to cash in on Cedric Soares when the January transfer window opens with London rivals Fulham leading the race to sign the 32-year-old defender.
For a change, the main focus of a January transfer window for Arsenal is likely to be incomings rather than outgoings.
Since returning to the club, initially as head coach, just over three years ago, Mikel Arteta has tended to trim his first-team squad during the winter with the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil, Calum Chambers, Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac all finding themselves in the Emirates Stadium departures lounge at this time of the season.
But as 2023 fast approaches and with the Gunners expected to do some business during the January window, as things stand, it doesn’t seem as though too many senior players – if any – will be deemed surplus to requirements by the Spaniard and therefore in line to be sold next month.
In fact, the Arsenal manager has already revealed his stance on player sales: “We know where we are in terms of the squad and numbers that we have,” he said during the pre-West Ham United press conference. “We’ll be extremely cautious about what we want to do in the window.
Of course, Arteta’s response was regarding the future of Cedric Soares. football.london understands the Portuguese defender has held talks with Fulham and Bayer Leverkusen over a move, while La Liga outfit Villarreal are also interested and all three clubs could offer the 31-year-old regular first-team football during the second half of the season.
With that said, the Evening Standard have reported that Fulham are expected to make a formal offer for the defender in the coming days. Furthermore, the report states that a loan deal, with an obligation to buy as well as a permanent transfer is being considered as Cedric is the West Londoners’ preferred target at right-back.
Taking Ben White’s transformation into a full-back following William Saliba’s return from a loan spell with Marseille in the summer into consideration as well as the fact that Cedric has played just 119 minutes for the first-team so far this season, all signs point towards Arsenal accepting an offer from Fulham is their demands are met.
However, a decision might not be as straightforward as it appears on paper for a few reasons. One being the Portuguese defender is still thought to be a valued member of Arteta’s squad due to his experience and professionalism. Additionally, with compatriot Joao Felix being linked with a loan move to the Emirates Stadium, he could be useful in helping the forward adjust to life in England if a deal is completed.
Although, perhaps the biggest factor behind Arteta’s cautiousness over letting Cedric leave is concerns over Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko’s fitness. Whilst the Gunners have enough strength in depth in the full-back positions to cope with a departure, the latter pair aren’t exactly the most reliable.
Both have struggled with injuries for much of this season. Zinchenko has already missed 12 games across all competitions with calf and knee problems since joining from Manchester City for £32m in the summer, whilst the calendar year hasn’t been kind to Tomiyasu, a £15.5m signing from Bologna 15 months ago, as he’s had numerous setbacks.
Should this pattern continue during the second half of the campaign then the Gunners would be short of options at right-back with youngster Brooke Norton-Cuffy out on loan and Reuell Walters yet to make his senior debut. Not to mention Cedric can also cover on the opposite flank – like he did when Kieran Tierney was rested for the behind-closed-doors friendly against Luton Town and the Scotland international’s injury record isn’t great either.
With a year-and-a-half remaining on his contract and so much strength in depth in the full-back department, it’s easy to why Arsenal could be tempted to let Cedric leave in January. But with Arteta’s side challenging for honours on three fronts in 2023, squad rotation will be vital.
Therefore, it would be ideal if there was some kind of assurance that Zinchenko and Tomiyasu’s fitness issues won’t come back to haunt the Gunners during the remainder of the campaign otherwise it might be worth keeping Cedric around until the summer as an emergency backup option.
Source: https://www.football.london/
