Southampton pleased as punch when Arsenal came in for Cedric Soares.
Arsenal pursuit of Cedric Soares came as a surprise to Southampton and the Saints’ couldn’t believe their luck when Arsenal shelled out to sign the Portuguese full-back.
Metro Sport claims that the Saints were expecting the defender to run down his contract and leave for free in the summer.
They did expect his agent would be in talks with other teams over a move last month, however, they never expected a club of Arsenal’s stature to want the former Sporting Lisbon man.
Interestingly, the defender is expected to also be out with an injury for the next few weeks, yet Arsenal made their move for him and he was still signed for the next six months.
The report claims that when arsenal came for the full-back, the Saints were more than happy to allow him to leave and it was a pleasant surprise.
Arsenal had dedicated the last transfer window to signing defenders as they have struggled at the back for much of this campaign.
The recent injury to Calum Chambers also made it doubly-important for Arteta to bring in a defender.
There is no definite time for Cedric Soares return yet, but Arsenal is confident that he will turn out to be the signing they want him to be when he has fully recovered.
If he is not then questions will obviously be asked. It is not the first time Arsenal has signed an injured player in the winter transfer window and if this one goes wrong then someone somewhere will have to answer for it.