Southampton officials were shocked when approached for Cedric Soares, states David Ornstein.
Arsenal completed a deadline day switch for the 28-year-old – a short loan as his contract with the Saints comes to an end in June.
The Saints expected Cedric to move on but to a lower tier club or away from England altogether. To add to their surprise, the defender is unavailable to play until March with a knee injury.
Ian Wright outlined the task Mikel Arteta has on his hands in reigniting Arsenal. Buoyed by his January additions, the Spaniard is still being backed to clinch an European spot.
“Mikel Arteta now realises the enormous task he has,” Wright told Premier League Productions. “The way they started, it looked like something was going to happen but then after that they slowly went further and further into their shell.
“It’s something he has to address because in terms of the calibre of player we’ve got – and you have to give Burnley credit for where they are – but we should be performing a lot better.
“We’ve got a lot of young players coming through that you hope can step up to the mark but we’ve got a lot of players there that aren’t playing to a level where Arsenal should be. That’s the job that Arteta has got, to get them back to that level. Whether or not he can do that with the funds that he’s got, which isn’t much, is going to be a massive, massive ask.”
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