Three clubs interested in signing Cedric Soares

Arsenal defender Cedric Soares could leave the club in January amid interest from Fulham, Bayer Leverkusen and Villarreal, Tuttomercatoweb claim.

The Portugal international joined the Gunners on a six-month loan from Southampton in January 2020. He penned a permanent deal after his contract expired over the summer.

Soares has been a back-up player for most of his time at the club but his minutes have drastically reduced this term with Ben White making the right-back position his own in the league.

With a strong deputy in the form of Takehiro Tomiyasu, there appears no need for another right-back and we won’t be surprised if Soares is allowed to head for the exit door in January.

It is now reported that Fulham are keen admirers of the Euro 2016 winner, but they are not alone with Bayer Leverkusen and Villarreal aiming to lure him away from the Premier League.

Soares could part ways with Arsenal in January

Arsenal currently have good depth in both full-back positions. White and Tomiyasu can operate in the right-back role and the latter has also played on the opposite end.

Meanwhile, there is Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney for the left-back department. Hence, Soares is pretty much a fringe player and could be restricted to cameo roles.

Soares’ current £75,000-a-week deal does not expire until the summer of 2024 and it remains to be seen whether the Gunners can receive a nominal fee through his sale this winter.

Otherwise, the club could make the decision to mutually terminate his contract. The final decision will obviously be left on manager Mikel Arteta and what he wants to do.

Arteta could also prefer to keep Soares until the summer if he has concerns over Tomiyasu’s fitness. The Japan star has been injury prone since joining the club from Bologna.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com and Capology.com