Newcastle United have rarely turned to Arsenal when building their squad, so Eddie Howe can make defender Cedric Soares just their fifth transfer direct from the Gunners this year.
Only four players have previously departed north London for the north east in either loan or permanent deals. Additionally, just two in Joe Willock and Sol Campbell have signed full-time terms with the Toon when leaving the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League-era.
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Howe is now considering adding Cedric to the exclusive group, however, as the Newcastle boss studies raiding Arsenal for transfers. That’s according to TuttoMercatoWEB, who cite the Magpies and Porto as potential landing spots, if boss Mikel Arteta sells the right-back.
Newcastle eye Cedric transfer with defender’s Arsenal future uncertain
Cedric is expected to leave the Gunners, having rarely featured as a key player under the Spaniard this season. Newcastle admire his ability to feature on either side of the defence, but trail Porto. The Dragoes have already lodged a €5m (£4m) offer to secure his services.
Yet Charles Watts plays down the level of interest Newcastle and Porto have so far shown in Cedric’s transfer from Arsenal. Goal’s Gunners correspondent also adds the 30-year-old is focused on staying at the Emirates, where his £75k-a-week contract has two years to run.
Cedric wants to, at least, finish the current campaign strongly, having only started 13 of 16 Premier League appearances. He featured in just four top-flight games between week one and 23, before gaining the first-choice role from February after Takehiro Tomiyasu’s injury.
Newcastle may see Cedric’s situation at Arsenal as a way to strengthen Howe’s squad with a low-cost transfer. The Gunners signed him from Southampton in January 2020 in a £5m deal, as well. So, how have the Toon’s previous signings from the Gunners gone on to fare?
Joe Willock: Steve Bruce’s big bet after successful loan spell
Willock initially joined Newcastle on loan from Arsenal in the January 2021 transfer market for much-needed game time. Arteta had only fielded the midfielder for 234 minutes across seven Premier League games. But he would play for 979 over 14 games under Steve Bruce.
The former England U21 star also matched Alan Shearer’s 1996 record for scoring in seven consecutive league games with United. In doing so, he also became the youngest player in Premier League history to score in seven-straight games and helped to secure their safety.
Bruce was hellbent on retaining Willock after a successful loan and he eventually agreed to pay Arsenal £25m in August. Howe’s predecessor at the St James’ Park helm said the club went ‘above and beyond’ to seal a deal, via Sky Sports, and he has remained key this term.
Sol Campbell: Invincibles icon finishes career on Tyneside
Willock’s initial arrival on loan was Newcastle’s first transfer direct from Arsenal since they signed Campbell in 2010. The defender became the first player to join the Magpies whilst leaving the Gunners during the Premier League-era, and was the first in 22 years, as well.
Chris Hughton sought to acquire the centre-half as a free agent at the end of a short-term contract with Arsenal. Sunderland and Celtic were notable rival suitors for his services, per The Guardian, despite the 73-cap England international demanding a £35k-a-week salary.
Hughton backed signing a player who turned 36 two months after joining as Campbell was a ‘very solid character and a very solid player’, via Goal. The coach they fired in December 2010 also added: “There are not too many frills about Sol. He just does the job efficiently.”
Campbell – who was a part of Arsenal’s Invincibles during his Highbury days – played only eight games for Newcastle, starting five, before the centre-back would retire in July 2011.
Kenny Sansom: First Newcastle transfer from Arsenal in 51 years
Kenny Sansom became the first post-World War II signing Newcastle made from Arsenal in 1988. He left north London after eight years, where he proved himself as one of the finest full-backs in England and emerged as one of the first truly attacking players in the position.
The left-back earned 86-caps with the Three Lions during his career and also made the PFA Team of the Year in eight consecutive seasons. But the arrival of George Graham as Arsenal manager and his change in formation saw Sansom depart in a transfer with Newcastle.
Ray Bowden: Newcastle sign star of dominant 1930s Arsenal sides
Ray Bowen was a part of the dominant Arsenal teams of the 1930s and scored 48 goals in 138 starts. He cost the Gunners £4.5k when joining from Plymouth Argyle in 1933 and fired the club to the First Division title in his first season. Newcastle later paid them £5k in 1937.
The Toon enjoyed two years with Bowden leading their attack, before he retired following the outbreak of World War II. His career also saw Bowden earn six-caps with England.
Mathieu Debuchy: Defender last star to transfer from Newcastle to Arsenal
Players moving directly from Newcastle to Arsenal are barely more frequent than transfers from north London to Tyneside, with Cedric potentially only the 11th star involved in any deal between the two clubs if Howe does elect to target the Portuguese’s arrival this year.
Six players have left the north east for the capital over the years, with Mathieu Debuchy in 2014 the last. Arsene Wenger paid £12m for the right-back to replace Gunners hero Bacary Sagna, as the defender departed the Emirates Stadium for Manchester City as a free agent.
Debuchy would spend four years at Arsenal, before they mutually agreed to terminate his contract and he joined Saint-Etienne. Several injuries limited his availability before Hector Bellerin broke through from the Gunners’ academy, with Debuchy only playing 30 games.
Wenger’s St James’ raid was Arsenal’s first transfer from Newcastle in 38 years. Malcolm Macdonald was the previous last player to make the move in 1976, following Pat Howard (1976), George Eastham (1960), Jock Rutherford (1913) and Bobby Templeton (1904).
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