Some Southampton fans have urged their defender Cedric Soares to never leave the club, following the Saints’ recent 1-0 win over Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
The Saints picked up a sensational win over Spurs on New Year’s Day. They had to thank Danny Ings for his first-half goal, as Spurs failed to take advantage of Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Brighton (Sky Sports).
The win meant that the Saints are now unbeaten in as many as four games in the league, having also beaten Chelsea in the current run (Sky Sports).
Southampton fans: Do you want Cedric to leave?
He's not good enough!
He's crucial!
After the game, Southampton fans have been raving about Cedric and have made it clear that they don’t want him to leave after the Portuguese international left a post on Twitter.
Stay with us mate we are building something
— neatola79 (@relax792) January 1, 2020
Don’t leave us Cédric
— Flynnboss (@mattflynn75) January 1, 2020
Dont leave mate. Your regret it. Grass isn’t always greener.
— Daniel sennett (@sennett_daniel) January 1, 2020
Very well done, your best performance of the season
Proud Saint— Spencer Houghton (@SpencerHoughts) January 1, 2020
Fantastic Cedric , awesome team performance , well played
— Melanie Hugh (@hugh_melanie) January 1, 2020
Your best game of the season mate
— Heath Jeffery (@jeffery_heath) January 1, 2020
Cedric hasn’t exactly been a regular for the Saints so far this season, having seen his place get taken away by Yan Valery at one point in the campaign. Cedric has made 13 times in the Premier League this season, also appearing twice in the League Cup for them. He has one assist to his name.
Last season, Cedric was on loan at Serie A giants Inter where he played under former boss Luciano Spalletti. He made four Serie A games last season, assisting twice for them. He also played four times in the Europa League for the club, as Sime Vrsaljko was out injured in his loan spell from Atletico Madrid.
The right-back joined the club from Sporting Lisbon in the summer of 2015 for a fee of £4.7million. Since joining the club, he has played 134 times for the club and has scored thrice, racking up ten assists.
What do we think?
Cedric’s current deal at the club runs out in the summer of 2020. They do have Valery waiting in the wings, but Cedric brings that experience to the plate that Valery can learn a lot from. However, whether Ralph Hasenhuttl and Southampton decide to keep the 28-year-old beyond the end of the current campaign remains to be seen.