James McNicholas of The Athletic has questioned whether Arsenal were right to have handed Cedric Soares a four-year contract having watched Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ performance at Sheffield United this weekend.
The Gunners sealed their place in the semi-finals of this year’s FA Cup having defeated Chris Wilder’s side at Bramall Lane on Sunday. Maitland-Niles came in to replace Hector Bellerin and his performance earned him a rating of 7/10 according to WhoScored.com, prompting McNicholas to think about whether or not handing the Portuguese defender a long-term deal despite the fact he’s yet to play for the club was the correct decision.
Speaking on the Arsecast Extra, he said: “I feel encouraged and also frustrated for Ainsley Maitland-Niles right now, because I thought there was a lot that was really promising about his game, I know he’s playing as a wing-back and not as a full-back but I do look at that and look at the fact we’ve just given Cedric Soares a four-year deal and think did this really have to happen like this?”
It was announced last week that Cedric would be joining the Gunners on a long-term deal from Southampton (via Arsenal.com) and simultaneously the club announced the permanent signing of Pablo Mari, David Luiz’s contract extension and that Dani Ceballos would stay at the Emirates Stadium until the end of the season.
TIF Thoughts…
With Cedric Soares yet to appear for Arsenal, you can understand why some were surprised to learn of the news. He’s an experienced campaigner who won a European championship with the Portuguese national team not so long ago. We can only assume that Mikel Arteta has been impressed by the player on the training field and from the conversations the pair may have had at London Colney.
Do you think Arsenal were wrong to hand Cedric a four-year contract?
Yes
No
Maitland-Niles has made 16 appearances in the Premier League this season, with the majority of those coming at right-back but his average performance rating stands at a slightly underwhelming 6.71/10 therefore, perhaps Arteta was right to feel as though he needs another natural full-back in the squad.