According to Chris Wheatley of National World, Cedric Soares will see out the remaining six months of his contract at Arsenal.
The Portugal international was said to be of interest to several Turkish clubs, but as we always say, there’s almost no point believing anything written by their sports media.
Excl: Cedric Soares will stay at Arsenal until his contract expires this summer. 🇵🇹
Several Turkish teams showed interest in the January window, but a move didn't come to fruition. pic.twitter.com/VePAPvRon7
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley) February 1, 2024
The 32-year-old joined the Gunners on loan from Southampton four years ago and subsequently signed a four-year contract after becoming a free agent.
It’s fair to assume his six-figure weekly wages have been a stumbling block to getting rid of him in the last couple of years.
It looked like he’d leave the club permanently last January but Fulham would only commit to a loan deal. They probably felt pretty pleased with their ‘try before they buy’ deal because it didn’t take Marco Silva very long to recognise Cedric’s limitations.
He returned to London Colney last summer and knew he wouldn’t get much game time this season. In fact, he’s played just 65 minutes taking his total appearances for the Gunners to 61.
To be fair, from what we hear, he’s a popular squad member and Mikel Arteta doesn’t mind having someone of his experience in the camp. He’s also our main cover for Ben White while Takehiro Tomiyasu is away at the Asian Cup.
Elsewhere, it looks like Alex Runarsson is set to return to Arsenal from his loan move at Cardiff City. The backup goalkeeper has fallen out of favour at the Bluebirds and could take Karl Hein’s place in the first team squad should the Estonian go out on loan to gain more experience.
Cedric The Non Entertainer.
Can’t believe no Saudi clubs want to sign Cedric the popular squad member
I think this has to be (bar maybe Runnarson) the weirdest transfer Arteta has made. I mean, Willian went really badly but you can see what we were thinking. People at Southampton were genuinely surprised and amazed we wanted Cedric. We paid a loan fee when he would’ve been free in the summer. We gave him a really good wage. And, am I imagining it, or wasn’t he injured when he arrived? And… He’s shite. The only thing I will fondly remember is a cross field pass he made when playing LB for us. I think it was an assist… Read more »
From what I know Cedric happened during Don Raul’s reign when his mate Kia had a key to Colney and the Emirates.
Arteta on signing Cedric:
“I followed him a few seasons ago, I started to follow him and I really like what he can bring”.
He was an Arteta signing, regardless of who was in the boardroom.
Your conclusion does not necessarily follow from that quote. Of course he’s going to say he likes the player, the club had just signed him. And at that point, Soares had fairly recently been a Portuguese international at the World Cup. And, if memory serves, and it doesn’t always, Arteta joined Arsenal in December 2019. Soares joined just one month later, in January 2020. So probably the club already had Soares in mind before Arteta became manager. But even if not, Arteta was a rookie manager and Sanllehi, who I understand was the lead decision maker, was still there. There’s… Read more »
I remember he scored a banger on his debut and then it was all downhill from then
We have certainly overpaid him (though without a transfer fee) and agreed to much too long a contract, but he was the starting fullback for Portugal when they won the Euros. So, every expectation that he was a limited but perfectly adequate player–which as far as I can tell, he remained. Just a word about Willian. Yes, you can really see what they were thinking. Again, it’s obvious the contract was too long and the wages too high, but he had been an excellent player at a big and successful Prem club. And every time I have seen him this… Read more »
We all know why Willian could be way better 2 years later, this my friend is a secret agent sent to infiltrate their rivals. Willian probably got a sign on bonus from Chelsea aswell for signing for Arsenal (wink wink).
Now watch critics of Arteta criticize Arteta for Arsenal’s failure to move Cedric… 🌝
….and ultimate legend El Neny.
Say what you wnat about Elneny, but he’s been nothing but professional. Perhaps not an Arsenal level player but as a club we are known to be class with such players. Eager if not elite, professional, ultimate club man.
Not all. Players are meant to be superstars. I love him and I will be sad to see him leave end of season.
No Edu & MA is in a soup basically now. I would request British taxpayer to screen this transfer completely. Also use their diplomatic clout in Brazil / Spain to the fullest if feasible & I can assure you that you might find something interesting.
I’m hoping that Arteta starts Ramsdale instead of Raya, just to stop your rants.
You are ChatGPT in disguise and I claim my five pounds!
My only criticism is that Cedric got CL minutes instead of Walters.
LANS!!
We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Tbf to him, he is living all our dreams (save not playing actual football for the Arsenal).
He seems to have become THE MOST UNPOPULAR ARSENAL player in the Arsenal online realm but I personally can’t really see why this is so rage inducing to some. Was it a good signing? No. Are we overpaying him a little? Yes.
Is it a massive problem to have him the last 6 months as a last resort back-up even though he’ll likely get zero minutes. Not in the slightest.
He’s not great, but people talk about him like we’re guaranteed to lose if he plays and I’ve never seen it like that. He’s very average. But not awful.
Because he’s shit and costs us 100k a week – that could be spent on pampering Kai’s dogs instead
“pampering Kai’s dogs”
Ooh matron!
I think the problem here is much more Kia than Kai.
Love this!
There have been many worse players to represent the club who have not received anything like the same amount of ridicule. He was average but not terrible, and it was not his fault the club signed him. The blame lies elsewhere.
Totally.
Meow!
I don’t know, unpopular is a bit strong since he barely plays. He’s like an inverse mascot, someone we can all come together to collectively dunk on for a laugh. I’ll personally miss him when he does eventually go and we lose our favorite target for ridicule.
Arsenal should teach penny pinching Galatasary a lesson for welching on the deal, and offer Cedric to Galatasarys rivals for free.
I think Galatasaray would still be the winners in that situation
He’s been getting payed 100k a week for 3.5 years for vibes alone. No way he was gonna agree to leave with just 6 months left, probably take a pay cut, and lose out on the further advantages of bring a free agent. I work it out to about £340k per each of his innefective 61 appearances. If we win anything, I hope he doesn’t get enough game time to get a medal.
No risk of us winning anything
If we win anything, Cedric’s medal count would be the last thing I’d be thinking about!
Wish I could give this multiple thumbs up.
If we win anything, like it or not he’s here and will have played some part in it. I’ll be over the fucking moon, not grumbling about Cedric. I get he’s not a great player, functional at best, but if you’re given the opportunity to sign for a club like Arsenal most people would take it. His pay packet is Raul and Kia’s fault most likely. We were a mess when he signed, full of aging primadonnas that had to be paid to leave. He at least never seems to have had a bad attitude and I enjoy his dodgy… Read more »
Blogs: CEDRIC TO STAY AT ARSENAL.
Me: Forever?
Yet another we can’t even give away. Brilliant work!
FFS
Phew…
I will never get my head around players, who are already millionaires, sitting around not playing because they don’t want to take a cut in wages. For some it might look great, but your career is finite and if your money is properly managed, there’s nothing to stop you going on and making even more money once you retire. It’s generally quite easy to make money if you have money. Even as a non-pro, there’s a big difference between a kick about with mates and playing actual competitive football. As a pro that difference is even more marked, training vs… Read more »
By the way, credit to Willian for accepting the payment hit and cutting short his time at Arsenal. After a year back in Brazil, he managed to revive his career an now is a core member of a PL club again.
Off topic, but I did something a little grubby last night. I watched the second half of the spurs game because I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about (according to some pundits they play like peak Barcelona now). A couple of observations: 1) They unquestionably play better football than we do at the moment. You can make all of the excuses you want but their manager has them playing a similar dynamic style to what we did last season. How has a bloke I’ve never heard of, taken them from the shower of shit they were… Read more »
I know…surely its schoolboy football. Against a high line you put pace up top…A master passer like MO should be able to loft one over for a Martinelli thru on goal situation.
Basically Chelsea did it when up against their 9 but were soooo shit it took them nearly an hour to time their runs…oh and the clowns they have up top
Against ruthless PL attacks they should be getting smashed every week with that high line and defence. Also, they have some decent forwards but nothing exceptional. I just don’t understand how they are right up our backsides. Of course they will win fuck all, but the thought of them over taking us makes me quite sick. Apparently having a ‘brave’ manager who calls everyone ‘mate’ and doesn’t lob his players under the bus is enough to win matches at this level. Who knew?
If you had seen Celtic last couple of seasons you wouldn’t be that surprised with how Ange has spuds set up. He’s a decent manager, had a lot of success in Japan and seems to be a good motivator. You can’t deny he has them flying right now and I too kinda wish we’d similar and bring back our play from last season. However, big Ange is not a defensive guru in the slightest and Celtic were routinely destroyed / embarrassed in early round champions league games. He’s playing the same style of defending at spurs and teams will surely… Read more »
#LikeANewSigning
So we are here again, when, not if, Jesus gets injured then Nketia is our seasons saviour? FFs
Football London says we’re “tipped” for 5 signings before the deadline! 9 targets have emerged they say! Who could it be?
He may not be an elite footballer but he is world class at getting himself a Bosman
I wonder who is his agent…?
Still cannot believe we actually signed Alex Runnarsson under the recommendation of the gk coach…
Still cannot believe we signed Kai Havertz…
Our chelsea’s Winston Bogarde bless him, like Ced given a 4 year contract with hefty wage, played 12 games, but was the ultimate professional in turning up on time for training, never injured, always in shape, always ready available, fulfilling his contractual demands and never being pictured wasted in a Belfast nightclub, tbh if i was given a lengthy contract which i knew my limitations when training with the full squad, being happy with the conditions of my work and area where i was living with a young family i would put aside my ego and financially secure my future… Read more »