Arsenal: Cedric Soares a different kind of underwhelming

Arsenal have lined up the underwhelming transfer targets, but Cedric Soares is a completely different kind of underwhelming.

Arsenal fans are being raked over the coals on social media for the links to so many underwhelming January signings and I love it. Opposing fans have zero idea what they’re talking about and the higher-ups at this club, believe it or not, do. The latest name to be added to the transfer rumor spectrum is Cedric Soares.

I have already gone into depth about why Pablo Mari and Mykola Matviyenko are wonderfully underwhelming (in a good way). They aren’t coming from a top division, they’re only coming on loan, the expectations are incredibly low.

But Cedric Soares is a different kind of underwhelming. He’s been one of the most consistent fullback presences in the Premier League for years. What makes him underwhelming is that he’s never left Southampton. He’s never taken a step up.

Now he’s 28 and faded from most people’s minds because it’s just assumed that he is only as good as Southampton.

Wrong.

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First off, Southampton are no slouches. They’ve been consistently in the Premier League, hovering in the middle of the table, making sneaky signings. Hell, they’re above us right now. So what else needs to be said?

Cedric Soares is a Premier League caliber fullback. There’s no doubt about that. And right now, the Gunners are remarkably shaky in exactly that category. Not for lack of personnel or talent, but because of injuries.

Soares is primarily a rightback, but has the capability to play leftback. Which is the big reason why the club is drawn to him. With Ainsley Maitland-Niles always looking for a way back into the midfield and the speckled injury history of Hector Bellerin, Sead Kolasinac and Kieran Tierney, an added presence, a reliable presence, is exactly what’s needed. We don’t need an underwhelming unknown at fullback. We need a proven Premier League veteran who can give us consistency and reliability.

Cedric Soares can do that. He’s underwhelming because he isn’t going to blow the doors off the Emirates with his present and future dominance. He’s not Kieran Tierney. But we already have a Kieran Tierney. We need a Nacho Monreal type, someone who can be counted on to do a job. That’s what Soares gives us.

Better yet, his fee sounds pretty cheap, and I know we’re all a fan of that. If this is the kind of underwhelming we’ve been relegated to, then give me more.