Arsenal officials want to sign Cedric Soares from Southampton. Pablo Mari’s loans have already finished. Not they want new full-back
Soares emerged as a primary target for the Gunners
Arsenal wants to sign Cedric Soares from Southampton before the Friday transfer deadline. Having completed a loan deal for the center-back Pablo Mari on Wednesday. Arsenal now began to pay attention to supporting their options at full-back. The head coach wants to take cover for Hector Bellerin. The officials can confirm that he has emerged as a primary target for the Gunners. In the summer, the Portuguese are out from the contract, and Southampton opened to allow him to leave St. Mary this month, negotiations are underway on the structure of the deal.
It is understood that the transaction will lead to the fact that Cedric will join Arsenal on loan until the season would end. With northerners paying a £1 million loan fee to close the footballer’s wages. Speaking after Soares replaced on 21 minutes by Southampton with a 2–0 victory in the Crystal Palace. On January 21, boss Ralph Hasenhuttl confirmed: “Cedric dropped out for three weeks, maybe with a knee ligament injury.” If this is correct, the defender may again be available after the upcoming break in the middle of the season.
Arsenal sees Cedric as a good cover for Bellerin
At the beginning of this month, Arteta spoke about the problems that he encountered at full-back. At that time, he played Ainsley Maitland-Niles on the right-back, while Hector Bellerin was injured and teenage winger Bukayo Saka on the left-back, with Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasignac on the treatment table. “We play with full-back players who are not full-back ones,” said Arsenal’s head coach. “They are wingers or central midfielders. Can we afford to lose our backs? No, we don’t have them.” Arsenal sees Cedric as a good cover for Bellerin, while he can also operate on the left if necessary.
If the deal would conclude before Friday at 11:00 GMT (6:00 GMT), it will be the second new addition of Arsenal to the window after the arrival of Marie from Flamengo. The north Londoners agreed on a deal on a loan of 26-year-old center-back and have the opportunity to make a transfer in the summer. Speaking about his move to the Arsenal club, Mari said: “I’m glad to be here and join a big club. I will do my best to help my teammates and the club. “This is one of the best clubs in the world, so I’m glad to join. I hope to play in this T-shirt and help my team.”