Journalist Charles Watts has revealed that Arsenal right-back Cedric is returning to full training today following his recent injury.
The Portuguese defender was suffering from fitness issues early on in September and then suffered a setback in his recovery, which further delayed his return to the team.
As a result, Cedric has not even been able to feature on the bench in the Premier League for the past two games, which were played either side of the most recent international break.
However, in a positive update on the situation, Watts was able to reveal that the Arsenal defender has returned to training this week and could be involved in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the journalist explained: “There is good news on Cedric.
“He is now ready to return to training, from what I understand, today [Tuesday]. Today is scheduled to be his first full training session after the injury.
“Now, he got the injury just before the Zurich game. It was only supposed to keep them out for one, maybe two weeks, and he got a bit of a setback on that, and was out again for an extra week or so.
“But he is now recovered, and today is due to be his first 100% full training session. That would give him two training sessions ahead of the match. If you think, train on Tuesday, train on Wednesday and then the match on Thursday.
“Whether that is enough to start him – obviously, Mikel and the medical staff will decide that – you would think, probably not.
“Is two training sessions, when you’ve been out for three weeks, enough to go straight into a match? I would think no.”
TIF thoughts on Cedric and Arsenal…
Partly due to his injury, Cedric has not yet played for Arsenal this season. When fit, he has had to settle for a spot on the bench in four of the club’s eight Premier League games so far.
However, he may be targeting midweek games in the Europa League as a way of gaining first-team minutes – although the likes of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White will also be options at right-back for Mikel Arteta.
For now, though, it does seem as though a return to action this week may come a little too soon for Cedric. As Watts mentions, he will only have two sessions to work on fitness before the game on Thursday against Bodo/Glimt, and so a starting role might be a bit ambitious for the defender. Perhaps he will at least be able to fit enough to make the bench once again.
Will Cedric get many starts for Arsenal this season?
Yes
No
