Villarreal have reportedly entered the race to sign Arsenal
outcast Cedric Soares who is expected to leave the Emirates in January.
Many thought Cedric would be sold last summer, having fallen
far down the pecking order in Mikel Arteta’s side and even spending the last
half of the 2022/23 season on loan at Fulham.
However there was little interest in the right-back and so he
stayed, but despite a number of defensive injuries, the Portuguese Internatonal
has scarcely featured this campaign.
He has made just two appearances for the Gunners: A
three-minute cameo in the Carabao Cup win at Brentford and 62 minutes from the
start of Tuesday night’s Champions League dead rubber against PSV.
And even with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jurrien Timber injured,
Cedric is unlikely to feature much more and Arsenal will be looking to save
some money and offload him next month before his contract expires at the end of
the season.
And it would seem that interest in the 32-year-old has now
emerged, with ESPN reporting that Villarreal have been tracking the defender
since the summer and are expected to open talks over a possible move.
It is also said that several clubs in Turkey are interested
in his services.
Should he join the La Liga side, Cedric would be able to team
up with former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin, as well as several other
ex-Premier League stars including Pepe Reina, Juan Foyth and Alberto Moreno.
It is not known however if Arsenal are looking to offload him
permanently or would be willing to accept a loan deal just to get him off the
wage bill for the final months of his contract.
Cedric moved to the Emirates from Southampton in 2020, having
previously played for Sporting Lisbon and Inter Milan, and has made 61
appearances in all competitions for Arteta’s side.
He is expected to be in the matchday squad on Sunday when
Arsenal host Brighton.
Source: Metro
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