Good news for Arsenal as they could sell deadwood defender in January

Arsenal could free up £75,000 per week in wages by selling this defender in January.

Arsenal have a pretty consistent starting XI under Mikel Arteta. Those who have watched All or Nothing on Amazon Prime will know that Arteta values every single player – even those on the bench. This is because he sees squad rotation players as valuable.

One valued team player is Cedric Soares, but according to a report from Evening Standard, Arsenal are pondering whether or not to sell the defender. An additional report from The Sun has stated that his current £75,000 per week wages are preventing potential suitors from signing him.

The Portuguese full-back, ever since he first signed from Southampton, has been on the fringe of the first-team but never actually made it consistently. In all honesty, if it wasn’t for injuries and busy fixtures, Cedric would not get any start. Put simply, he is comfortable at Arsenal – this is not a good thing, he lacks drive.

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I don’t mean this to be harsh. But he is just not at the level that Arsenal need to be in to improve. They are top of the table and Cedric is not a top of the table player. Southampton is his level and fair play to him for wanting to challenge himself but as he enters the end of his career, he needs to be realistic and prioritise getting game-time.

Therefore, I think this is positive news for Arsenal. As they plan a squad reboot in January to secure their place at the top of the table, selling deadwood players such as Cedric Soares would free up room in their squad and clear some wages.

Cedric overall was not a bad signing but he wasn’t great either. He was average, and a signing which looked good in the last couple of years no longer looks good. This is a testament to the mentality shift Arteta has brought about.

Who would you like to see Arsenal sign in January?