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Cedric Soares has finally sealed his loan move away from Arsenal on the deadline day of the January transfer window.
THE LOWDOWN: LACK OF GAMETIME
The 31-year-old has been on the fringes of the Arsenal team for the first half of the 2022/23 season, playing a total of five games in all competitions for the Gunners as they powered their way to the top of the current Premier League standings.
It has been a tactical decision from Mikel Arteta to omit him from the team as he has not suffered any injuries that are capable of keeping him grounded for long.
As a result of his lack of playing time, he has missed a lot of activity with the Portugal national team, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This is despite him being a trusted stalwart of past manager Fernando Santos and being on the team that won Portugal’s first ever international trophy, the 2016 UEFA European Championship.
Soares has continued to remain professional but upon receiving a call from his former manager Marco Silva, who is the current manager of Fulham, the former Southampton man made up his mind to make the switch to Craven Cottage for some game time.
THE LATEST: LAST-MINUTE MOVE
The move almost fell through at the last minute as Premier League rules prevent Premier League clubs from having more than two on-loan players from others in the same division. Their move to make Shane Duffy’s transfer from Brighton and Hove Albion permanent almost stalled but per recent reports, all seems to have gone well as Marco Silva finally has his man.
Fulham are also in talks to make his deal permanent in the summer for a price less than £20 million. This means that the former Southampton man could have officially played his last game for the Gunners.
Cedric Soares is the only departure from the first team during this window.
THE VERDICT: FAIR WINDOW
On the other hand, the Gunners brought in three players: Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho, with the latter happening on deadline day just as Soares was completing his loan move to Fulham.
Arsenal will now have to play the rest of the season with Takehiro Tomiyasu as the only natural right back the club has, but with Ben White deputising.
The former Brighton man has been superb in the role, however, but only incredible man-management from Mikel Arteta would prevent a disaster from happening seeing their dearth of talent in that role.
