Darren Bent has told TalkSPORT that Arsenal defender Cedric Soares is simply “not good enough”. The Arsenal-supporting pundit has urged Mikel Arteta to improve the squad depth of the North London side.
Cedric, 30, played 29 times in all competitions last season – with Japan international Takehiro Tomiyasu struggling with injuries. But the Portugal international did not earn rave reviews for his performances.
Gary Neville, for example, was heavily critical of the Euro 2016 winner in the 3-0 North London derby defeat to Tottenham. He has a contract, worth £75,000 a week (Spotrac), until the summer of 2024.
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Ex-Tottenham striker Bent, who is openly an Arsenal fan, spoke about Arsenal’s lack of depth. He said that Arteta needs to make some signings to improve the overall quality of the squad – saying Cedric is “not good enough”.
“They need to bring in players in the right areas. They need good squad players. When Tomiyasu was out, Cedric came in – but he is not good enough. They need to bring players in that are good enough, even from the bench.”
Bent: Arsenal defender Cedric ‘not good enough’
Arsenal missed out on the top four for two reasons. The first was due to the fact they are a young side, inexperienced. But that can be excused, and the players will now have the experience of missing out.
The other is injuries, and as Bent points out, a lack of quality in depth. Arsenal will now have to play in the Europa League in 2022-23. They need better players this summer, beyond the starting 11.
Tomiyasu is a solid right-back but it is clear that he has injury problems. Cedric is some drop off from Tomiyasu, as is Nuno Tavares. A new right-back should be quite high on the list of priorities this summer.
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