Arsenal: I’d pay £5m for Cedric Soares right this very second

Cedric Soares is disappointed not to be healthy for Arsenal’s return to action, but whatever happens, I’d pay £5m for him right this very second.

You’re probably wondering why I am so hellbent on pitching Cedric Soares like he’s the second coming of Lauren. Honestly, I am too, but from the moment Arsenal signed him, it has made so much sense to me that I just want everyone else to see the sense as well.

Cedric is upset that he will not be healthy in time to feature for Arsenal in their return to action. And that’s a problem for a loanee who wants to stay at the club because he isn’t getting a chance to prove himself in front of his new people. Every game he doesn’t play is a missed chance to prove that he should be made a permanent fixture at the Emirates and thus upgrade from Southampton.

Let me tell you, even if Cedric doesn’t play a single game for us this year, I would still pay the measly £5m to make the move permanent right this very second, or right the very second his loan runs out.

There is a such thing as being overqualified. You don’t often get that in football, let alone the Premier League. How would we possibly know that a player is guaranteed to do exactly what we’re asking him to do?

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That’s easy. We are asking Cedric to provide depth at fullback. To fill in when necessary behind Hector Bellerin primarily, but also slip in at leftback when Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac.

He’s not being asked to start. If he challenges the for a starting role, we win.

But for such a small price tag, we are hoping to get someone that can fill in when necessary and hold down the fort midweek. That’s pretty modest.

Cedric has been starting consistently for Southampton, a consistently midtable club, for half a decade. He’s never been supplanted, replaced, pushed aside, anything. He’s good enough to start for Southampton and retain a prominent role. That’s a bigger deal than it sounds.

Starting for five years for a midtable club translates seamlessly to being a sub/fll-in/midweek starter for a club that is (supposed to be) higher up in the table.

And you never know what he could do. He’s made the most of himself at Southampton, so who’s to say he can’t be doing more elsewhere?