Arsenal have been dealt an injury blow to defender Cedric Soares ahead of their Europa League clash against Zurich.
In a recent Twitter post on Wednesday afternoon, journalist Kaya Kaynak had this to say on the matter.
He said: “Understand Cedric is unlikely to be involved for #AFC vs FC Zurich tomorrow after picking up a minor knock. He’s recovering and wasn’t involved in training this morning.”
Even though the full-back hasn’t made a Premier League appearance for the Gunners so far this season, it’s safe to assume that Mikel Arteta may have been hoping to deploy Soares in this game to help give him the option to rotate some of his players and rest them ahead of their next league game against Everton at the weekend.
With the Portuguese international now confirmed to have not travelled with the rest of the squad to Switzerland, this will surely be a blow for Arsenal and the manager.
Arsenal initially signed the defender on loan from Southampton during the 2020 January transfer window before securing him on a free transfer in the following summer window.
Having made 55 appearances for the north London club, the 31-year-old has scored two goals and delivered five assists for his side.
Last season saw the right-back make 21 league appearances for the Gunners, during which he scored one goal, supplied one assist and racked up the fourth-highest number of tackles in the defensive third of the match at Arsenal.
This highlights how much of a useful defensive option he is for Arteta and shows how he can be an occasional threat in front of goal.
Moving forward, while it may be disappointing for the Arsenal boss to not have Soares available for today’s European clash, the hope for everyone at the club will be that the player can recover from his knock as quickly as possible so he can be a viable option for Arteta again.
