Cedric Soares joined Arsenal in January as Mikel Arteta looked to cover for his injured defenders.
Intriguingly, the Portugal international joined the Gunners injured when they had been trying to solve a problem that injuries created.
He is expected to be fit within the next couple of days and I wonder if he would be better than our other full-backs.
In the absence of Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been our go-to player to fill in at right-back.
Maitland-Niles is not a natural fullback, but the England man has done a good job whenever he has been called to do so.
I enjoyed watching Soares at Euro 2016 and in some of his games for Southampton, but I’d stick to Maitland-Niles if I were Arteta, here’s why:
Maitland-Niles has been in the Arsenal system for a while and he has understood what it means to play for the Gunners.
Soares is just jumping at the opportunity to become as Arsenal player and I reckon that he will struggle for consistency before the season runs out.
Maitland-Niles isn’t the best when it comes to attacking his opposition, but he can make a tackle and can make others behind him confident that he can cover his side of the defence.
Soares is a better crosser of the ball and a better attacking midfielder, but he has struggled to impress at the Saints recently, what is the guarantee that he would do any better for Arsenal?
I hope that Soares has a good Arsenal career and I believe that he can make Bellerin better by pushing him for the first-team spot, but I’d rather have Maitland- Niles ahead of him in the Arsenal starting XI.
An article by Jacob B