Cedric Soares should possibly have seen this coming. The Arsenal defender left the Premier League leaders in January, making the short trip across London when Fulham agreed a deal to sign him on loan for the remainder of the campaign.
But if Cedric thought that regular starts would be easier to come by at Craven Cottage, he was very much mistaken.
You only need to look at the position Kevin Mbabu found himself in to realise that ousting the outstanding Kenny Tete from Marco Silva’s starting XI is easier said than done. Mbabu barely kicked a ball in anger during five months at Fulham, eventually returning to his native Switzerland in the winter window.
Cedric, on paper, is an upgrade on the former Newcastle youngster. A man proven in the Premier League, boasting vast experience and a history with the Fulham boss; Cedric played under Silva at Sporting Lisbon too. But with Tete’s months-long purple patch showing no sign of ending, Cedric has actually played fewer minutes for Fulham so far than he did during the first half of the season at Arsenal.
Cedric Soares struggling for starts after leaving Arsenal for Fulham
Ok, he was ineligible during Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to his parent club. But, across Fulham’s four previous Premier League games, Cedric was handed only eight minutes of football; limited to brief cameos off the bench against Nottingham Forest and Brentford.
There is no option to buy clause in Cedric’s contract. And, with fellow right-back Milan van Ewijk on Fulham’s radar, Arsenal may soon found themselves in a familiar position; hoping to find a club willing to take an ageing and highly-paid player off their hands.
“I feel great,” the former Southampton man smiled after sealing his January switch. “I wanted this deal to happen, so we all pushed in the same direction. I’m really happy and pleased to be here.
“Me and my family are really, really happy for this move. It’s a great move.”
Cedric signed off by saying that he ‘couldn’t wait to start’. But, six weeks later, his Fulham career is still yet to get off the ground.
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